Clone
by writer writing
Summary: Lois Lane has been dead 3 years when a lookalike shows up, believed to be a clone of her. Clark is getting married to Lana. Will a clone of his late wife be enough to stop the wedding?
1. Chapter 1

The tropical breeze ruffled Clark, Lois, and Chloe's hair but it wasn't a vacation. They had been lured to a desert island with promises of an exclusive interview by one of the world's wealthiest men, not Lex Luthor but perhaps just as evil and corrupt. They had a vague idea that it might be dangerous but they thought Superman aka Clark Kent could fly them away if need be. Clark, however, had lost his powers the moment he stepped on the island and the helicopter, courtesy of the billionaire himself, had taken off, leaving them trapped. They didn't know how but there was obviously kryptonite somewhere on the island, not enough to kill him but enough to drain him of his powers. Charlie Chang had yet to make an appearance after being there half an hour and they were all slightly unnerved.

"Do you think he's going to try and kill us? Do you think he knows your secret, Clark?" Chloe asked.

"I suppose it could be a coincidence that there's kryptonite," he answered, absent-mindedly twirling his wedding ring.

"I don't think it's a coincidence," Lois said, "and I don't think we're going to get that interview, a story maybe. We have to find good, old Charlie if he's even here, before he finds us."

"Hold on, Lois," Clark said. "I don't have my powers."

"So?" Lois asked.

"So you can't go skipping into danger like you usually do because I won't be able to rescue you."

"I don't go skipping. Most of the time it comes skipping to me. What do you suggest we do, Smallville? Wait until he finds us and invites us to tea? If his intention is to kill us, there's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide."

They knew she was right.

"Clark is just saying that you need to remember to be more cautious than you usually are," Chloe said.

"Anyway, it's getting dark," Clark said. "I don't think it's wise to search for the enemy in a dark, unfamiliar place."

They were all tired from the long helicopter ride, so they agreed to sleeping in shifts. They needed to be at full energy when they found him or his goons. Clark took the first shift. He wanted to stay on guard all night, in case there was an attack but his heavy eyelids refused to cooperate. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it, so a third of the way into the night, he switched with Chloe.

Chloe was feeling slightly refreshed but anxiously waiting to switch with Lois. It was cold. She never did understand how it could be hot in the day but get so cold at night. Lois and Clark were plenty warm. They were snuggling like she had been doing with Lois before but she knew there was no way Lois was going to let her snuggle with her husband. Chloe supposed she could try, covering herself with sand. Maybe Lois would take pity on her.

Chloe heard a crash not too far away. It hadn't woken Lois and Clark. They were surprisingly heavy sleepers to always be getting in peril the way they did but of course in Clark's defense, his super hearing wasn't working. Chloe figured she'd better check it out to be on the safe side and hope it was some kind of wild animal or better yet a tame animal. The disturbance was a fallen tree. Chloe laughed at her paranoia and headed back for camp. She was also surprised that she and Lois hadn't taken to carrying guns. They could certainly use one now. When she got back, everything seemed peaceful and quiet. It took her a moment to notice the feathered dart sticking out of Lois' arm.

"Oh my--Clark! Lois! You have to wake up!"

Clark sat up first, his eyes wide. "What?"

Chloe pointed at the dart unable to do much of anything else, she was so frozen with fear.

"Lois," he said, shaking her awake. "Lois!"

Lois sat up groggily, whether it was because she was tired or due to the dart wasn't clear. "Is it my turn already?"

"You have a dart in you," Clark told her, taking her in his arms. "Chloe, what am I supposed to do?" he asked, too nervous to think.

"Take it out. I'm sure it's poisoned," Chloe said, kneeling on Lois' other side.

Clark pulled it out and blood trickled down her arm.

"How do you feel?" he asked her.

"This isn't one of my more healthy moments and see I wasn't looking for danger. I think this proves my point," she laughed weakly.

Clark looked to Chloe for more help.

"I'm not a doctor and I don't know what kind of poison it is but I think it's already being pumped to her heart," Chloe said tearfully.

"No, no! It can't be true!" he shouted.

"It is," Lois said. "I can feel my heart slowing down but I feel calm, oddly enough. Listen, I have an idea. It's just too bad I didn't think of it earlier. If you swim out to sea, your powers are likely to come back. You two have to get off this island before you get shot too."

"I'm not leaving you," he said defiantly.

"Let's face it, Clark. I'm going to be a corpse. There's no need to take a dead body with you or stay with it. If you want to come back for me later, that's fine, after the danger is over and you've caught Charlie Chang."

"You can't leave me," Clark whispered in a soft, trembling voice.

"It's a part of life. You have to stay strong and live for Jason's sake."

"I know."

"It's hard to lose your mom at 6. I should know. Make sure he always knows how much I loved him."

"He will."

"I love you, Smallville."

"I love you," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Don't be afraid to move on." Those were her last words before she shut her eyes and Clark felt her body go limp.

"No!" he screamed and sobbed at the same time.

The sound of thunder punctuated his cry and rain began to fall.

"We better go," Chloe said.

"This is your fault," he said, standing up. "If you'd been keeping guard like you were supposed to, if you hadn't found a cure for meteor powers, she'd be alive right now."

"Cla--"

"No, you're a hypocrite. You kept saying 'Your powers aren't bad. You can save people' but when you're the one that's different--"

"I'm sorry okay but every person I knew with meteor powers…it ended up being too much for them to handle."

"But you--"

"Stop it okay! I loved her too. She wouldn't want you to blame me or yourself, before you go there. I know you're grieving and you're angry right now but concentrate on getting us out of here and catching her real murderer."

Clark nodded meekly. The rain on his face made it hard to tell if he was still crying but she knew he was. They escaped the island. Charlie Chang had conveniently committed suicide. They came back for Lois' body but it wasn't there. They assumed it had been washed out into the ocean, too big a place to locate her. They had a memorial service for her. She wasn't forgotten, not in the journalism world and especially not in the heart of her family and friends.

3 years later…

Clark was in the Talon having coffee with Chloe.

"So when's the big day?" Chloe asked, trying her best to sound chipper and supportive.

"We're thinking June because it's the traditional month to get married in but we haven't set a date." He gave the ghost of a smile as he said, "We're not even married yet and Lana has already started nagging me, mostly about wedding plans."

"Well, I'm happy for the both of you."

"No, you're not."

"What do you mean I'm not?"

"Chloe, it's been 3 years. Lois would want this. She would want Jason to have a mother."

"I know, I know," Chloe said, throwing her hands up in mock surrender.

"I know what you're thinking and it's not true. I loved Lois more. This isn't me returning to the woman I never stopped loving. It's me getting on with my life."

"I understand."

They sipped their coffee in silence. Clark stared out the window.

"Chlo--Chloe," he said his voice barely above a whisper, he sounded and looked extremely shocked.

"What?"

"I--I know this is going to sound crazy but I--I think I just saw Lois in somebody's car."

"That's impossible."

"You're right. It's just because we were talking about her."

"Sure it is and we were both there when she died. It can't be her."

"Chloe?"

"I know you have to check it out and why not? Stranger, even similar, things have happened in Smallville. Go on."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Once Clark was in the air as Superman, he easily spotted the black mercedes. It was pulling into the Luthor mansion. He had suspected it might and it gave more credence to the fact that it might be Lois. The driver of the car gave her a curt nod after he parked it in the multiple car garage and then left. She hung back because she had bags to carry in. He flew down to see her, after changing back into his regular clothes and destroying the surveillance cameras.

She turned around and almost dropped her bags at the sight of him, "Oh gosh!" she cried. "Give somebody a heart attack why don't you?"

"Lois?"

"I'm sorry you must have me confused with someone else. Who are you? One of Lex's employees?"

"No," he said, trying to regain composure. He should have lied to her but he couldn't, not when she looked so identical to Lois.

"You don't look like someone he'd hire. You look like you have morals."

"I guess you could say we're sort of old friends."

"Well, that's a different matter entirely. It means you're the scum of the earth. If you'll excuse me, these bags are getting heavy and Lex won't be here until next week. He's at his home in Metropolis." She brushed past him on her way to the door.

"Wait, who are you?"

She whipped around and he thought he could detect a bit of fear in her eyes. "That's none of your business."

"Would it help if I told you that Lex and I are enemies these days? I'm Clark Kent."

She frowned. "I've never heard of you." She started to walk away but then she stopped. "Aren't you a reporter? I've read that name in the Planet."

"Yes."

"Are you on a story?" He saw that same fear flickering in her eyes.

He knew something was fishy now. He pulled a picture of Lois from his wallet. "I'm not on a story. I just want to know why you look so much like my late wife."

She dropped the bags and broke into a run. He sped over to block the door. She started to scream but he placed his hand over her mouth.

"I don't want to hurt you," he assured her. "I just want to know who you are. Do you promise not to scream if I remove my hand?"

Her eyes were squinted with anger but she nodded, and once he removed his hand, she said, "I'm 59."

"You don't look it."

"No, I mean that's my name. I'm 2 years old."

Realization dawned in his eyes. "You're a clone?"

"Yes."

"Of my wife?"

"I never knew what her name was but I guess so."

"Does he still have her?"

"No, but she was already dead. He was just using her DNA and then I think he had her cremated, after he produced a successful clone."

"That son of a--"

"I'd like to go now if that's okay with you."

He looked at her tenderly. She was made from the same genetic material as Lois. "Are you happy here?"

"It doesn't matter how I feel. Lex made me. I belong to him."

"What does he do with you?"

She shrugged. "Absolutely nothing. Since I'm the only clone he has, I'm kind of like a prized possession in a museum. I'm to be admired and studied. I have a room, food, and twice a year I'm allowed to go to a big city. It's supposed to cure me of restlessness. I just got back from Chicago. That's my life and I'm definitely not allowed to go around Smallville."

"I bet. Did you know it's illegal to clone people?"

"Well, I'm not the one that broke the law."

"Are there files on you?"

"Sure. They're in his basement lab."

Clark was about to go looking for it when he heard a ticking sound. He picked up the Lois clone and ran with her, not quite at super speed but enough to get away from the building in time. There was a massive explosion, sending parts of the building flying. He sheltered himself over her until it was over.

She got up and went closer to the smoking area. "Do you think--"

"No one could have survived a bomb of that magnitude. Lex doesn't care who he kills. I wish I could've known about the bomb sooner and more lives could have been saved. I'd call the police but there's no way they missed the biggest building in Smallville exploding."

"Why would he destroy his own home?"

"To destroy the evidence that he made a clone of course. He'll explain the bomb away somehow and if you try to testify in court, he'll try to claim you're the real Lois or something. I'm sure he meant for us to be killed in the explosion as well. Someone must have heard us and told him. He always has a way of destroying evidence when he has to. I learned a long time ago unless you have undisputable evidence in your hand, and sometimes even that's not enough, you're wasting your time trying to keep him behind bars."

"My home is gone. Where do I go? What do I do?"

"What you do is up to you but if you want to stay in my apartment in Metropolis you're welcome too."

"That's generous of you but I don't think so."

"Then where are you going to stay?"

She didn't answer.

"Exactly, you don't have a place to stay. The last thing you want to do is go to Smallville. Too many people there know Lois. I've got a car and a friend waiting for me in Smallville but do you know who Superman is?"

"Doesn't everybody?"

He smiled. "He's a friend of mine. He'll fly you to Metropolis and I'll meet you there a little later. Oh shoot, I almost forgot about Jason."

"Jason?"

"My son. We've been staying with my mother but we were supposed to leave today. I'm sure she can keep him until you find a place though. He's on his summer break. I don't want him to be freaked out because you look like his mother."

"You're making all these plans and I've never actually agreed to stay with you. I don't want to be a burden to you and your family."

"You're not and I'm not taking no for an answer."

"So I'm your prisoner?"

"N--no," he stuttered nervously and turned a little red. "I didn't mean--"

"Relax. I was just teasing but remember it's only until I get on my feet."

"And until we know Lex isn't going to go after you."

"Sure, just as soon as Lex sends an apology note in the mail, we'll know I'm safe."

"I see you got her sarcasm as well," he said. "I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"I'd prefer you not compare us. I'm a different person."

"I know," he said sadly. "Believe me I know. I think you should pick a name that's not a number."

"I guess so if I'll be living in the real world. How about Louise?"

"Louise?"

"It sounds too close to Lois, doesn't it?"

"It's fine," he said. "I'm leaving but Superman's going to be along before you know it."

Superman was there, almost as soon as Clark was out of sight and he flew her to the apartment, taking her in through the window. "Make yourself at home. Clark will be along shortly."

'Louise' looked around the apartment. It was nice enough. She saw a picture of 9 year old Jason and couldn't help but think he was a cute kid and she wasn't really a fan of kids. As she was exploring, she almost tripped over a little, shaking dog, a chihuahua to be exact. The nervous dog yipped at her. She sneezed and her eyes started to water. "If I was a guessing person, I'd say Lois was allergic to rats like you," she told the dog. She hated knowing that she shared the same physical traits as a dead woman, maybe even psychological as well. It was a little creepy. Louise had been planning to sleep on the couch but not with the dog being in the living room. She decided to lay on Clark's bed because she was so tired, just until he removed the dog from the living room. She fell asleep.

She woke up to find it was morning and she'd been tucked in under the covers. She felt bad about it because the white sheets were now dirty from the soot on her clothes. She went to take a shower before she got anything else dirty. It wasn't until after the shower that Louise realized she had no clean clothes to change into and putting the same ones back on, defeated the purpose of taking a shower. She wrapped the towel around her and went back into the bedroom. She searched Clark's closet and drawers for clothes. She found a box with women's clothes in the corner of his closet, probably Lois' but it would be in bad taste to wear them and would also be upsetting to Clark. She settled on one of his plaid shirts instead. She hoped he didn't mind but she had nothing else to wear until her clothes got washed. There was no way she was going to be able to wear his pants unless she rolled the pants legs up and tightened it a lot around her waist. She figured it wasn't worth the trouble, besides being uncomfortable.

She cautiously stepped out into the living room, not knowing how he would take her in his plaid shirt but he was nowhere to be seen. There was a note on the counter explaining that he'd had to go to work and he'd left her muffins on the table and there was orange juice in the fridge. She took a muffin and the newspaper and sprawled out on the couch. She had to start looking through the classifieds for a job. She heard a key in the lock and the knob twisting. She expected to see Clark, returning because he'd forgot something. Instead, there was a dark haired woman, who dropped her keys at the sight of her and said fearfully, "Lois?"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Louise jumped up, not sure how she was supposed to explain herself. "Not exactly. Who are you?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I am Clark's fiancée, Lana Lang. Who are you, a cousin of Lois'?"

"That works."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm Lois' cousin." She wasn't sure what Clark wanted to tell her. She saw that Lana was studying her, obviously trying to figure out what she was doing in nothing but Clark's shirt. "This isn't what it looks like," Louise said quickly, using the newspaper to help hide her bare legs.

"It better not be."

"I didn't have anything else to wear."

Lana raised her eyebrows. "So you spent the night with Clark?"

"Yes. No. In separate rooms. I needed a place to stay. It's complicated. Clark can explain better than I can."

"I hope so," she said, folding her arms.

Clark came through the door and told Lana in an apologetic tone, "I completely forgot you were coming to look for old high school mementos."

"Obviously," Lana replied.

He looked over at Louise. "She needs them for our engagement party. There's going to be--" he lost his train of thought when he saw her in his plaid shirt.

Louise was embarrassed. It had been a stupid idea. It was suggestive and he obviously found her attractive because she looked like his wife.

Lana was annoyed because she knew very well what had left his sentence unfinished. "I think we should talk about this in another room, don't you?"

Clark followed her into his bedroom.

Louise knew it wasn't really any of her business but she couldn't help being curious. She set the newspaper on the coffee table and crept closer to the door to hear the conversation.

"So Lois' cousin, huh? Why is she staying with you?"

"Is that what she told you?" Clark laughed. "I was worried she'd be too naïve to know how to lie."

"Who is she then? Is it Lois?"

"No, she's Lois' clone."

"What? How?"

"You really only need one word to sum it all up in a situation like this. Lex."

"You're not going to let her stay here, are you?"

"She has nowhere else to stay."

"It's not healthy for you or Jason to be around her."

"Do you want to let her stay with you then?"

"No," she sighed. "It's just for a little while, right?"

"Just a little while until she can make it on her own and we have to keep this a secret. No one else knows. I especially don't want Jason to find out."

Louise moved away from the door. She was glad she hadn't caused problems between them. She was enough trouble as it was. They came back out.

Lana smiled at her but she could tell it wasn't genuine, not that she blamed her under the circumstances. "Well, I'd say somebody needs to buy you some clothes." Then she growled at Clark, "Come on."

Louise looked to see why Lana had snapped at Clark and saw that he was staring at her again, especially now that the view was unobstructed by the paper. It was a little flattering and a lot humiliating. Lana took him by the hand and began leading him out.

"Hold on a minute before you leave," Louise called. "Did you know you have a rat problem?"

"Rats?" Clark asked with a puzzled expression.

"A dog actually. I'm--"

"Allergic," Clark finished. "I'm sorry I should have known. I shut him up in Jason's room." Clark went to get him and Louise backed away, so her allergies wouldn't come back full force.

"This is Taco Bell, but we call him Taco for short. It's Jason's dog." Taco yipped in her direction. "He's leery of strangers, so we always keep him shut up when we have guests. I forgot you might be allergic. I don't want you to have to suffer with allergies while you're staying here. I'll try to get all the hairs up too."

He started to go out the door with him.

"Wait, you're not going to get rid of him just on my account, are you?"

He smiled. "We have a neighbor that takes care of him sometimes. I'm taking him over there."

"Oh," she replied, wishing she hadn't sounded so concerned for a dog.

They left and Louise picked the paper back up. She saw one of Clark's articles on the front page. For a second, she thought she saw 'by Lois Lane and Clark Kent' but she shook her head and rubbed her eyes. It was just Clark Kent. She opened the paper up to the classifieds.

----

Clark dropped Taco off and promised Lana that he wasn't going to go back to the apartment until Lana had gotten her some clothes. He had to work anyway. He had only come back in hopes of stopping an awkward meeting. That hadn't gone too well. He was embarrassed that he looked like a pervert to Louise but he couldn't help it. It had brought back memories of Lois running around in his shirt, a thing she had done long before they were married, practically when they were strangers. No other woman in the world would have walked so brazenly into the bathroom, where he was showering, in nothing but his plaid shirt and she had looked good in it. She hadn't been trying to seduce him. She had simply come in to brush her hair. She'd felt justified in doing it, considering the way they'd met. When his mom came, she had slipped up behind him like they'd been doing something inappropriate. It had taken awhile to convince his parents it was innocent. She had done it merely because she liked to see him blush and get flustered, something she'd still been capable of doing even after they'd gotten married. He'd do anything to go back. Seeing Louise in a plaid shirt had made him wistful and brought back memories he was trying to bury, so he could move on with Lana. Lana knew it, she wasn't stupid. Louise did have to leave as soon as possible. She was too much like Lois and therefore too much of a temptation. He might end up confusing her with Lois and that couldn't be good for anybody.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

"I really do appreciate you going out and buying me some clothes," Louise said.

"Yeah, yeah," Lana replied, as she pulled a box down from Clark's closet shelf. "It was as much for me as it was for you."

Louise examined herself in the dresser mirror. "I'm not sure about a business suit though."

"You're looking for a job, aren't you? You have to dress up for an interview."

Louise sat down on the edge of the bed and Lana did too, putting the box down on the floor.

"If you want to thank me," Lana said, "you can help me go through this box. I could use a second opinion."

"What exactly are you doing?"

"We're going to have a table at our engagement party to display things that symbolize our relationship through the years."

"So you knew Clark before Lois did?"

"Yeah, way before. We have an on again, off again romance but this time it's going to stay on."

Louise looked a little horrified. "You were never on while he was married to Lois, were you?"

"Don't be absurd. I'm not that kind of girl and Clark is certainly not that kind of guy. Here's his football jersey but considering I was dating his assistant football coach, that's probably not a good one to use."

"You dated his coach?"

"Yeah, his name was Jason actually. I can't believe Clark would have chosen to name his son that."

"Why not? I can see not naming a child after someone a parent dated but ex's exes could be quite a list and there's only so many names in the world. Besides it could be a family name or maybe they just liked the meaning."

"No need to get defensive. I was just making a comment. Look here's a picture someone took of us at the prom," she said handing it to Louise, so she could look at it.

"This should definitely be included. I like your dress."

"Thanks. Oh my goodness."

"What?" Louise asked, putting the picture in the keep pile.

"He has a picture of him and Lois at the prom too."

"The same prom?"

"Yeah, they actually went together. It's a long story but because of it, they got the traditional prom picture taken. Ours was taken with someone's camera phone. I had no idea he would keep a picture of them at the prom."

"Can I see it?" Louise looked at it, extra curious because she wanted to see what she would have looked like as a teenager, had she been one. "I finally found a difference between me and the real Lois. I would never wear pink unless it was underwear, where no one could see it. That is one ugly dress and I don't like the way her hair is styled either."

"I'm pretty sure Lois felt the same way," Lana said, distracted as she dug through the box in search of something. "She was possessed, the reason they went to the prom. Look at this! More Lois mementos."

Louise put the Lois and Clark prom picture in the discard pile and looked to see what Lana had found. "Newspaper articles?"

"From the high school paper. Articles that were written by Lois. He even had them laminated."

"Don't forget some of these things might have belonged to Lois."

"No, I knew her. She wouldn't have kept a picture of herself in what she would have defined as an embarrassing and awkward moment. Even if she kept the articles from the Torch, she wouldn't have laminated them. It would have made it look like she liked journalism and really I don't think she did back then. No, believe me, Clark is the laminator."

"Okay, so what? I don't see the big deal. He clearly liked her to some degree to marry her."

"The big deal is I was supposed to be his high school crush. That's one thing that belonged to me. Lois was there for a very small part of senior year, he shouldn't have anything from her during the high school years. It should be all me. He was supposed to love me."

"I'm sure he did--does love you."

"Do you know why we broke up the last time?"

"Uh…no."

"Lois. He called me Lois, a Freudian slip of the tongue. He'd fallen in love with her without even realizing it."

"Well, that's all in the past and if he didn't care for you, he wouldn't be marrying you."

"You still don't understand," Lana said, tearing up. "We didn't remain on very good terms after we broke up. In fact, I didn't even see him again until Lois' memorial service. Lois and I weren't best friends or anything but she lent me an ear and hand a time or two and I wanted to show that I had no hard feelings for her or Clark. Clark and I started to hang out as friends after that. He needed people to talk to and people who could recall some Lois stories. Clark likes me and Jason likes me. I've never stopped loving Clark. It just made sense for us to get married. It takes away some of the loneliness but not a day goes by that Lois doesn't come into the conversation. Do you know what that's like? She's dead! She's dead and she still has first place in his heart."

"It's like competing with a ghost," Louise said sympathetically.

"No," Lana said, her voice shaking with emotion. "She's flesh and blood now."

Louise knew she was referring to her. She laid a hand on Lana's shoulder. "I won't be here forever."

The phone rang.

"It's probably Clark calling to see how things are going," Lana said, wiping her tears away with her hand. "It'll be obvious by my voice that I've been crying. Can you answer it?"

"Sure," Louise said, going into the living room where it sat on the end table. She hesitated before answering it though. What if it wasn't Clark and whoever it was could recognize Lois' voice. She answered it, deepening her voice to sound like a man. It wasn't very effective but effective enough for a phone. "Hello?"

"Clark?" came a woman's voice.

"What?"

"You're not Clark. Who is this?"

"Who are you?"

"Chloe Sullivan. Who are you?"

"Butch."

"Butch? What?"

"I work at the Planet with Clark."

"Really? What department?"

"Sports."

"I see, well, Butch, is Clark there?"

"No, but his fiancée is."

"Let me talk to her."

"Hold on a second." She covered the mouthpiece and asked Lana. "Do you feel like talking? I think she said her name was Chloe Sullivan."

"I guess," Lana said, coming into the room to get the phone. "I've put everything back in the box, for now at least. Can you put it on the shelf for me?"

"Who was that?" Chloe asked, when Lana got on the phone. "And don't tell me it was a man."

"Nobody important. Why did you call?"

"Clark's being evasive on telling me about the person that he thought looked like Lois yester…oh my gosh. That was her, wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't--"

Lana was cut off by the sound of a shelf full of contents falling, followed by a long, loud string of cuss words in Louise's normal voice.

"I'd know that voice anywhere. I'll be there as fast as my car can take me and she'd better be there when I get there," Chloe said, hanging up before Lana had a chance to explain.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

"So she's Lois' cousin?" Louise asked, playing with her hands a little nervously.

"Yes, a real cousin," Lana emphasized.

"I hope you're still not upset about that. I had no idea what to say to you. Telling a person you're a clone isn't the easiest thing in the world but I must say I'm getting plenty of practice. Are you sure nothing broke when everything fell off the shelf?"

"I'm sure. I checked. Of course the shelf has to be fixed. There was too much strain I suppose."

"I never can understand that. It was holding up perfectly fine before. I'm lucky I wasn't buried in the junk. I hope Clark won't be mad."

"I doubt he could get mad at you," Lana said bitterly, "but it's his fault for having so much stuff and not enough room. He's a packrat."

There was a tense air as they waited for Chloe to show up. Things had gotten even more uncomfortable between them than before because of Lana's confession.

Louise shifted the couch pillow under her arm and then asked, "Are you sure Clark's going to be okay with telling Chloe that I'm a clone?"

"I'm positive. They tell each other pretty much everything. They were always close but they got even closer after Lois died with a common grief. I left Clark a message at work though just so he knows she's coming by."

Chloe finally arrived and Lana opened the door for her. "Lois!"

Louise didn't get up. "I'm not Lois."

"Then who are you?"

"I'm a clone Lex made," she told her.

Chloe's face was unreadable as she digested this information and then she said, "Are there ever any simple explanations for anything? So why are you staying with Clark?"

Lana answered her this time. "Why do you think? She hasn't learned to make it in the real world yet and it's more than clear that he took a personal interest in her for obvious reasons. Her home was destroyed, so she has to find a job so she can--

Clark was at the door. "I just got your message. Chloe, hi. Listen, I'm sorry about--"

"No need to apologize," Chloe interrupted. "I'm just going to come out and say this right now even in front of the clone--"

"The clone's name is Louise," Louise said, slightly annoyed at being called 'the clone'.

"Right, sorry but everyone in this room knows this isn't a good arrangement. Louise has to move out now. I would let her stay with me but it's better that she be in a big city, where people don't know her. The clone thing has to stay low profile I would think. She needed a job like yesterday. What kind of skills does she have?"

"This may be a strange concept to you," Louise said," but speaking to the person in question is usually the best idea. I know more about me than they do. I've never gone to school but I can read, write, do arithmetic, so I assume I got the same sort of skills she had whatever they were."

"I'm sorry I wasn't speaking directly to you. It's just a little weird for me, since you look so much like my cousin. In that case, you could try being a journalist and Lois didn't have to get a degree in journalism. It depends on how sophisticated your writing and investigating skills are."

"There's one minor problem and it is a problem," Louise said. "I thought about it as I went through the classifieds. I have no last name, I have no social security number, no permanent address, and the list goes on. Even the most basic of jobs require that."

"If illegal immigrants can get jobs with out having the necessary information, so can you and I happen to know if you're anywhere near as good as my cousin, Perry White will find a way to hire you."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of her working at the Planet with Clark," Lana complained.

"I'd hire her at the Ledger, the Smallville paper where I'm editor," Chloe explained for Louise, "but again Smallville isn't a place where she wants to work. Besides, the Daily Planet is a big place. They may never even run into each other, depending the floor she gets."

"What do I write about?" Louise asked, unsure of the idea.

"Well," Chloe said, " I think the perfect story for you to start out with is Lex Luthor's house getting destroyed. Everyone's talking about it and you have inside information."

Louise studied the 3 people in the room, as they stared back, eagerly waiting for her reaction. They all wanted her out of there. "No harm in trying," Louise told them.

"Great," Chloe as she turned on the computer in the apartment. "Can you navigate the computer or do you need help?"

"I'll be fine. I know how to point and click," Louise answered.

"Wonderful," Chloe said, scribbling her number on a piece of paper for her. "You can call me if you run into problems but we'll all leave you alone, so you can work on it."

They left and Louise sighed as she sat down in front of the computer. She pulled up a word document and typed, 'Why Lex Luthor's Smallville Home was Destroyed' and that was as far as she got. How much was she supposed to reveal? What was she supposed to research? How do you compose an article? She was stuck and the headline wasn't very creative. She glanced around the room, hoping to find some inspiration. She saw a shelf of home movies under the TV and her curiosity got the best of her. No one was around. This was her one opportunity to see what the real Lois was like. She picked one up labeled 'Jason's Birth' and put it on.

Pregnant Lois was in a wheelchair being wheeled along a hospital corridor. She looked like she was in a lot of pain. Her bangs were damp and she was using the breathing technique that claimed to help with the pain. She assumed the person holding the camera was Clark. Suddenly Lois was looking directly into the camera with a deadly glare.

"Clark!" That was him. "If you don't turn that thing off and put it away, I'm going to break it into millions of little pieces."

Clark sounded truly confused. "I thought we agreed it'd be nice to have a video to remember the birth?"

Her only response was to growl. She was in too much pain to answer or lunge for the camera.

The nurse answered for her and the camera turned to look at the gray-haired nurse. "Moms often change their minds about recording once they're in labor."

The camera went back to Lois. She didn't say anything but the look on her face said that as soon as her contraction was over, she was going to break the camera. The screen went black, as Clark wisely decided to turn it off.

It was funny how readable Lois was. Louise could almost hear her thoughts and could easily imagined herself in Lois' position. She could almost see Clark with the camera up to his face walking along, trying to keep up. It was probably because of their close bond, sharing the same genes.

The screen came back to life again. Lois was in a hospital bed with a tiny, red baby in her arms. It zoomed in on the baby.

"Smile for the camera, Jason. It's your first on screen appearance," Clark cooed in baby talk.

Jason didn't even have his eyes open. The camera then focused onto Lois.

"Is there anything you'd like to say or recall for Jason when he's older?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. That was painful, my dear son. I had no drugs because it's all so unique, we didn't know if it'd be a good idea or help any. You're the most beautiful baby in the world and they say when a mom sees her baby, the pain of 23 hours of labor is forgotten. That's a lie they feed women to keep women from fearing childbirth. I'm going to have nightmares. I say all of this to you because I plan to hold it over you head for the rest of your life and when you're picking out a nursing home for your old, gray-haired mother, remember this day." Clark chuckled and Lois broke out into a smile. "Seriously though. I love you and I'd do it all again. I don't want to but I would. You're adorable and perfect and I'll try to keep that in mind during your teenage years. I love you."

Clark turned the camera, so that his face was showing. "All I've got to say is be glad we didn't record the birth after all. It wasn't a pretty picture. I love you and I love your mom. You're both incredible."

"Aww, you're getting sappy, Smallville and I love you too."

Louise smiled at the Smallville nickname, For some reason, he looked like a Smallville.

A nurse came into the hospital room. "You want me to get a family shot before I take him to the nursery?"

Clark handed her the camera and then moved over next to Lois and Jason. He put his arm around Lois and lovingly adjusted Jason's blanket, smiling for the camera. Then the nurse turned it off.

Louise had a heavy heart. She had no parents and she was sure a clone couldn't have kids but who would want to marry a clone in the first place? She would never know what it was like to have a family.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Louise let out a frustrated sigh. It was after 9 and she had accomplished nothing. The cursor blinked continuously almost like it was mocking her.

Clark came through the door. "I brought hamburgers. How's it going?"

"It isn't. I can't be a journalist. I guess this is one way I differ from Lois."

He set the bag down on the table. "It's okay. You'll find something you can do. Right now though you have to take a break and eat."

Louise got up and went to the table. She lifted the bun to see what was on her hamburger and then started to eat it.

"I wasn't sure you'd like your sandwich the same way but I took a shot."

She nodded. She was in no mood to start talking about her and Lois' similarities.

"I got you a coffee-flavored milkshake."

She took the milkshake out of the carrying case without saying a word.

"Listen, don't worry about not being able to write the story. Chloe's a little gung ho about journalism. She gets everyone involved in it, whether they want to be or not. She's the reason I went into it. Even Lana's in journalism because of Chloe's prodding."

"Lana's in journalism?"

"She's a journalist for Channel 6."

"You mean she sits in front of the camera looking pretty and reads the news someone else got for her?"

He smiled. "Basically. You may learn to get interested in journalism too. It took Lois awhile to get into it but when she did, she was the best. No matter how much talent you have, it takes some practice."

Louise glanced over at the computer. Maybe she'd give it another go in the morning. Clark had already finished eating when she glanced back. Louise was sure he had to have inhaled his food. She wished she'd been paying closer attention to see how he'd eaten so fast.

"I'm going to go change the sheets for you. I'll take Jason's room again."

"Actually if you don't mind, I'd rather sleep on the couch."

"Why?" he asked, surprised.

Louise felt weird sleeping in the same place where Lois and Clark had slept but she didn't want to tell him that. "I just sleep better on the couch."

"Well, I want you to be comfortable. I'll get you some blankets."

Clark went to bed first but Louise wasn't too far behind. It had been a long day.

It was the middle of the night and Louise felt chilly. She got up off the couch and saw that the window had been left open. She got up to shut it. Before she finished shutting it, however, she heard something or someone behind her. She whipped around to find Superman standing there.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to see you."

"Me? Why me? Don't you mean Clark?"

Suddenly there were a pair of glasses sitting on his face, Clark's glasses.

"How--"

"Super speed," he answered, anticipating her question.

"But…but…"

"Clark Kent is Superman. Superman is Clark Kent. You knew that, Lois."

"I didn't and I'm not Lois."

"Yes, you are. You know you are."

"I'm not. I'm just a clone!"

Lana stepped out in front of Clark and laughed. "Clone? You honestly expect everyone to believe that? Stay away from Clark. He's mine now."

"Smallville?" she said trying to look past Lana for a glimpse of Clark. "Smallville?" she called in a more desperate tone. Lana shoved her sending her falling out the open window. "Smallville!"

She jerked out of the dream and sat up, sweating and shaking.

"Louise, are you okay?" Clark asked, coming out of his room.

"I'm fine. I just had a nightmare."

"I figured that much and did you scream Smallville?"

"I'm afraid I did. I watched a home movie where she called you that. I knew it was a bad idea to watch it but my curiosity got the best of me. Are you mad?"

"No. Truthfully, it was kind of nice being called that again. What did you dream about?"

She shrugged. "Nothing."

"It must have been something. You still look shaken up."

She looked up at him, unable to hold back her tears, "I just feel so alone."

He sat down on the couch beside her, so he could hug her. "You're not alone."

"I will be as soon as I get a job and move out of here."

"I'll still be your friend. I'll visit you daily if you want me too. "

"Lana will love that."

"She'll have to deal with it."

There was a knock at the door.

Louise pulled away from him and dried her eyes. "I wonder who that is?"

"It's my mom and Jason. You have to hide. Go into my bedroom."

"How did you know--"

"Hurry up."

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Clark opened the door once Louise was safely in the bedroom.

His mother was looking at him suspiciously. "What took you so long to open the door?"

"What are you doing here?" he countered, hoping she'd forget her question. "It's pretty late."

"It's early if you have farm chores."

He looked out the window and saw the early morning light starting to filter in. "I guess I've lived in the city too long."

"Your son has a new power."

"Shhh!" Clark said, alarmed and he pointed frantically toward his bedroom door. The walls and doors were fairly thick, so that you almost had to be pressed against something if you didn't have super hearing but he didn't want to take chances. He looked down at Jason who was grinning proudly. "Which one?" Clark whispered.

She whispered back. "Let me give you a hint. We didn't take the car. He couldn't wait to show you. Who's here?"

"Jason, why don't you go in your room for a bit while I talk to your grandma."

Jason didn't seem to mind. He looked tired and he had just ran with his grandma all the way to Metropolis.

"He's got a good sense of direction," Clark smiled, after Jason shut the door. "That's a long way for a 9 year old to come and not get lost."

"Who's in your bedroom?" Martha asked. "It's not Lana or Chloe or anyone who knows your secret. Is it a girl?"

"It's complicated."

"You're not…"

Clark looked at her blankly and then realized what she was asking, "No, Mom! How could you even think that?"

"Honey, I know you're not happy with Lana."

"Mom."

"Not like you were with Lois. You don't have that spark or that happy smile."

"Nobody will ever make me as happy as Lois did and I'm sure you feel the same way about Dad. Lana is as close as it gets though and I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"I understand that but I think you're cheating Lana."

"But she knows, Mom. She knows the situation and she's still wants to marry me."

"It's your life. I'm not going to tell you how to live it. I just want to make sure you go into this with your eyes open. Now back to the girl in the bedroom. Who is she?"

"A clone of Lois."

Martha's eyes flew open in surprise. "Are you joking?"

"This isn't something I'd joke about. She's pretty much an identical copy even down to personality. I rescued her from the Luthor mansion."

"Can I meet her?"

"I don't know. I guess there's no harm but you can see why I wouldn't want Jason to see her."

She nodded and Clark went to get her. Louise came out and shook Martha's hand. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kent. I'm Louise."

"It's nice to meet you," Martha returned, studying her carefully. "Would you like to sit down?"

Louise looked to Clark for direction. He'd already taken a seat, so she sat down too. She hoped this conversation wasn't going to be about her.

"My son hasn't told me much about you. Out of curiosity, do you mind if I ask you what your first memory is?"

Louise was taken aback but answered truthfully. "I'm sure Clark's told you that I'm a clone. My first memory is being in a lab and Lex, a memory of my creation I guess."

"How long ago was that?"

"It's been a couple of years. Why?"

"Are you sure you're a clone?"

"I'm sure. I saw the files, heard the conversations about me."

"But no definite, 100-percent-sure proof?"

"I don't guess so. There's no clone test that I know of. A clone would have the same DNA as the original."

"Where are you going with this, Mom?" Clark asked.

"Have you explored the possibility that she may have amnesia and Lex only wants her to think she's a clone?"

"Why? What would his motive be?" Louise asked.

"He hates Clark and Lois for that matter. He'd love to take her if only to deprive the two of you from being together. Emotional pain is far worse than physical pain. Telling you that you're a clone and having no memory makes you submissive. Otherwise you'd have escaped."

"I'd love for Louise to be Lois," Clark said. "Nobody would want it more but she's not. I saw Lois die. She stopped breathing and her heart stopped. It's obvious now that Lex took her body. Maybe he was even working with Chang but she can't be--Um, I have to go."

Louise looked at him curiously. There was something familiar about his constant need to run errands. There had to be a logical explanation for this and one that didn't include Clark being Superman.

"Right," his mom said. "Mr. White wants you to cover that story on early morning traffic."

Clark left, leaving Martha and Louise alone.

"Yes," Martha said suddenly with a smile.

"What?" Louise asked.

"Yes, my hair used to be red. It only turned white in the last year. You were staring at my hair, so I figured that's what you were thinking."

Louise was startled. She had been thinking that Mrs. Kent's should be red but it was a coincidence. Her complexion called for it.

"Do you have any memories, concerning Lois?"

Louise was uncomfortable. Mrs. Kent's intelligent, warm blue eyes were looking at her as if she were an open book. "No," she answered truthfully. Feelings and dreams didn't count.

"Give it some more time. They'll come back to you. There's no better place you can be to recover them."

"Even if I do start getting her memories, how do I know they really belong to me?"

"I've done some research on clones. I used to be a senator and there was this other senator who was trying to make it legal to clone people. It didn't pass but you would only be copying genetic material. Memories are made. They're not in the genes. Life experiences cause people to turn out differently. Genes aren't the only thing that factor into personality. The most important thing, however, is that a soul isn't copyable. There's no harm in cloning animals because they have no soul."

"So what you're saying is I have no soul."

"No, I think clones could have souls. God would give them their own. Look at identical twin. They have the same genes but they're different people. I still wouldn't want scientists to risk playing God as they often do. There's ill consequences every time they go against nature. It's what created the killer bees. What I'm saying is that I've been watching you closely and you're not different. You put out a Lois vibe if you want to call it that."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Kent but I don't believe that."

"Did you see the body?"

"No."

"Then you have to admit it's possible. Clark and Lana are having their engagement party tomorrow. I think you should come."

"I don't think so. I don't want to come between them."

"He's your husband and he loves you. You're crazy if you think you're not going to come between them."

"And what if he isn't and he doesn't?"

"Then he's your friend who's done a lot for you and you should be there."

"I'll think about it."

"Good," Martha said, standing up to go.

"Where are you going?"

"To get a cab and go home."

"But what about Jason?" she asked.

"The boy's gone long enough without his mother. He shouldn't have to go another day. I'll see you later, Lois."

Louise was stunned. There was no convincing this woman she wasn't Lois. Clark was back a couple of minutes later. "That was fast. You already got the story written?"

"Story? Oh yeah, it's done."

"You have got to give me some pointers. You must type really fast."

"Yeah. Where's my mom?"

"She went back to Smallville but she left Jason here."

"What? Why?"

"She's still convinced that I'm Lois and she thinks Jason and I should get reacquainted."

"That sounds like her. She's right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"It is best for Jason to meet you. You look like his mom. What if he runs into you one day somehow. I don't want him to get freaked out. It's better that I tell him about you now."

"Yeah, probably."

"Which means you can't sleep out on the couch, in case he comes out later and sees you."

"Right. I'll take your bedroom."

"And I'll take the couch."

Louise got a feeling of déjà vu over the bedroom/couch thing. She shut the door and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt her face. It was strange to doubt who you were but she almost did after the nightmare and Martha's stubborn belief. Clark was wrong when he said that he wanted her to be Lois more than anybody. She wanted to be Lois more than anybody. To have a family and a true identity. To have been purposely created, not by Lex, an evil psychopath, but a loving God. It just wasn't the case. "Louise. Louise," she whispered at herself. "You are a clone named Louise." Feeling more confident, she turned around to get in bed and was confronted with a strange scene.

Clark and Lois were asleep in bed, while it stormed outside. The bedroom door opened and a 3 or 4 year old Jason came running into the room. He jumped up onto the bed and crawled between them, waking them both up.

"What's the matter, Jason?" Clark asked.

"I scared."

"Of what?" Lois asked.

He pointed at the window, "Noise and light."

Clark put an arm around him reassuringly. "The noise is just God moving his furniture around."

"Smallville, you can be more creative than that." She looked at Jason. "This is Sunday. God doesn't work on Sundays. He goes bowling with the angels. The noise means God is hitting the pins and the light means a strike."

"Really?" asked wide-eyed Jason.

"Yep, there's nothing to be afraid of." Lois said. "Now go back to sleep."

"I stay here still?" Jason asked hopefully.

"Sure," she said, giving him a hug. She and Clark lay back down to go to sleep but Jason was sitting straight up to watch it thunder and lightening.

Every time there was lightening, Jason bounced up and down and shouted, "God winning! God winning!"

"Great going, Lo," Clark said.

"It's still a better story even if we're not going to be able to sleep until it's over."

Louise smiled at the sweet memory but she was sure she had fabricated it. Her mind was beginning to play tricks on her. She had to get out of this place as soon as possible. She picked up a pen and paper and motivated to leave, began to write the article.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

"So what do you think?" Louise asked Clark, as he finished reading her article later that morning.

"I think it's very well written."

"Thanks. Is Jason up yet?"

"No. He always sleeps in late and he was more tired than usual when he went to bed."

"I should make myself scarce then until you have a chance to talk to him. I think I'm going to take my article to the Planet. The worst they can say is no, right?"

"You can't turn that in."

"Why not?"

"You reveal the cloning in it. Think of it as practice and find something else to write about. If you print that, Lex may try to silence you permanently."

"I thought you said it wouldn't hold up in court."

"It probably won't but Lex will make doubly sure of it."

"The public has a right to know the truth and who knows? Maybe it will even bring Lex Luthor to justice."

"At the cost of your life!" Clark said, raising his voice.

"It's my life. Don't you want to see Lex pay for what he did?"

"Of course, but not at your expense."

"But what am I worth? I'm just a copy."

"Don't you ever let me catch you saying that again," he warned. "Every life is precious. You have to take care of yourself."

"Why? Because I look like your wife? I'm turning this article in and I will find someone to publish it even if it's not the Planet. You've been a big help but I can take my life from here. I may not even come back."

"Why not?" he asked, his voice a mixture of anger and concern.

"I'll have a job for one thing and for another, you don't need a reminder of the past. It's time for you to move on with that girlfriend of yours." The last line came out a little harsher than she intended. She sounded a little like a jealous wife. She mumbled under her breath, as she started to walk away, "You probably love Lana more anyway."

"That's not true!" he shouted.

She turned back to face him, surprised he'd heard her.

"I love Lois. It's not just that you look like Lois, I care about you as a person and as a friend. That's why I'm ordering you not to turn that article in!"

"Ordering me? That's a laugh. The last time I checked this was still a free country. Just try and stop me," she looked at him sullenly and then she slammed the door hard behind her.

In retrospect, he should have known better than to order around someone even remotely like Lois. Gentle persuasion might have stood a chance but now she was going to turn it in if only to spite him. Clark rarely lost his temper even with bad guys but Lois and now Louise were among the few in the world who could make his blood boil or cool him down at will. It was because he cared about them. They had a temper that didn't help matters but his patience lasted longer than most people's. One of the reasons he and Lois had worked so well together. In a weird sort of way, he kind of liked fighting with her. It had felt good and familiar. He missed fights with Lois. He just missed Lois.

Jason opened the door and looked out sleepily. "Were you yelling?"

"I'm sorry I woke you up but as long as you're up, there's something we need to talk about."

Jason plopped down on the couch and waited for his dad to continue.

"How much do you remember about your mom?"

"Only a little. Most of what I know about her is from stories and home movies."

"Would it upset you if you saw someone who looked like her?"

He looked thoughtful and then answered. "No, I think it would be cool."

"Would you care if that someone like that stayed with us for a little while?"

"There really is someone like that? I don't mind," he said eagerly.

That made Clark worried. He didn't want Jason to get attached to her and use her as a mother figure. He needed Jason to feel that way about Lana. "It's only going to be for a little while and I don't want you to confuse her with your mom."

Jason seemed to understand and be okay with it.

---

Clark and Lana were having their engagement party at the Talon.

"The table really looks nice," Chloe was telling Clark. "I think the Talon is also very symbolic of your relationship."

"It was Lana's idea."

"Speaking of Lana, why aren't you two hanging out together at your own party?"

"She's talking to some of her friends from work. I don't know them, so I'm waiting for her to get done. This is one problem Lois and I never had. We had the same friends, working together and all."

Chloe picked the yearbooks off the table. "Which one's yours?" she asked.

He looked at the signatures on the inside of the cover. "The one you have open now is Lana's."

"Oh, yeah. I see. Look, Lois signed it."

"I didn't know that. What does it say?"

"It says 'I don't know why I'm signing this for you as I only went to Smallville High for a few weeks and hated almost every crappy minute of it but oh, well if you insist. Best Wishes. Lois.'"

Clark laughed and ran his fingers over the letters Lois had formed. "That's something Lois would say alright."

"Did she sign yours?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't get her to sign mine being my cousin and everything," Chloe said, as she searched for what Lois had written in Clark's yearbook. "You don't have half as many signatures as Lana's. I guess we know who was more popular in high school."

"You knew Lana was more popular."

"There's mine, there's the football team's, Lana's. She didn't even write anything. She just signed her name."

"Yeah, and she didn't ask me to sign hers. We were in an off phase at the time."

"Aha, here's Lois'. I don't know how I missed it. Was she writing a novel?"

"You know--knew Lois. She's wordy written or speaking."

" 'Desperate for signatures, aren't we, Smallville? Let me see this is the part where I recall fond memories we shared of high school. My leaving was a good one for the both of us I'm sure. I can't deny that my time here wasn't an interesting experience though. I won't see you over the summer as you already know. When I get back, I'll probably find you and Lana already got married and no, I'm not hallucinating. I think I've written plenty to remember me by, don't you? Have a good summer and if you want to call me (which I doubt but this is more for the sake of tradition and being cliché) my cell number is 223-8391.' Did you call her?"

"Maybe once or twice but she was busy trying to find her sister and I was busy being hung up over Lana."

"By the way, how is Louise?"

"Okay but I haven't seen her since this morning. She did that article you suggested and went to find someone who'd take it."

"Clark, it's 7:00. Are you saying she never came back?"

"I went out some, helping Lana with the party. She may have come by while I was gone. I didn't go into work, so I don't know how it went. She may still be looking for takers. She was mad at me when she left. We fought about whether or not she should print the article with the information it contained. I figured she wasn't too eager to come dashing back because of that but I'm sure she's already at the apartment."

"Unless Lex took her."

"That's possible I guess. I knew I shouldn't have let her go out by herself but I didn't want her to feel like a prisoner. I bet Jimmy might know something. Jimmy!"

Jimmy put his half-eaten cookie back on the platter of cookies before he came over to them. Clark and Chloe groaned. They were both fond of Jimmy but he could be a little scattered sometimes.

"Yeah, CK?"

"Jimmy, by any chance did you see someone who looks like Lois come into the Daily Planet?" Clark asked.

"No, I would've remembered that."

Clark nodded and started to go.

"There was this one girl though, who came to talk to Perry," Jimmy said. "She had sunglasses and a headscarf. He read her article and then he asked her something. She took off her sunglasses and Perry looked like he saw a ghost. I didn't see her face but then he got real excited about the article. He told her something else. She put her sunglasses back on and came out smiling. Now that I think about it did kind of remind me of Lois' smile."

"When was this?"

"Early this morning."

"She's gotten herself in trouble," Clark said. "It's in her genes. I better go find her."

"I'll go to my computer and if you need any info, you can call me," Chloe said.

"Jimmy, if I'm not back before Lana notices I'm gone, tell her something came up."

Clark and Chloe left before Jimmy had time to respond. He was left to hold down the Lana front. It was just his luck that Lana finished talking to her friends and began to scan the room for Clark. Her eyes locked onto his and he knew he'd been spotted, as he glanced away nervously. It wasn't that Lana was an uncommonly astute person. He was just a lousy liar. No one who knew him to any degree would trust him with an important secret. He just wasn't cut out for it. He also wasn't cut out for dealing with emotional girls. He had always been fine with Lois, once you got past her intimidating qualities, she was one of the guys except that she was a girl. Chloe was okay because their friendship had a mother-son feel to it now. Chloe was the natural-mother type. Lana was bound to get a little hysterical, definitely not his thing. He looked around for a familiar, helpful face but found none. They were all Lana's allies. This was not good at all. He shut his eyes tight in that hopeful childhood reasoning that says if I can't see you then you can't see me. It didn't work as he felt Lana tapping him on the arm. Jimmy knew without a doubt that he was done for.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

"Where's Clark?" Lana hissed.

"Clark who?" Jimmy asked, perhaps not the best reply in the world. He almost considered yelling Superman but he wasn't likely to save him from a non-death situation. However, Lana was looking pretty mad. That situation might change any minute.

"You know Clark who."

"He said to tell you that something came up."

"He promised not to bail on our engagement party."

"CK's always forgetting something and having to run errands. You know how he is."

"You know what he's doing, don't you?"

"No, I don't." Lana glared. "I mean yes, I do. Something about a look-alike Lois being in trouble. I think he went to find Superman."

Jimmy squinted in preparation for the screaming, crying, whatever was coming. Instead, she said calmly and politely, "Thank you, Jimmy. If Clark should make it back to the party before it's over, tell him I'll be waiting for him at his apartment."

Jimmy felt a chill as she walked away. How could Lana be so angry one minute and then nice the next? What was that expression about the calm before the storm? He wouldn't want to be in Clark's shoes right now. CK had a way of picking temperamental women. He shivered as he remembered Lois' calms and death stares. She had been the master. He much preferred screaming now that he thought about it. At least you knew what to expect rather than waiting for a bomb to go off. He looked at his reflection and practiced his own death stare. He came off looking like a little kid giving his younger brother mean looks. He was just kind, honest, kidlike Jimmy, no hidden layers to explore. He looked around at all the women in the room that Lana had invited tonight and felt grateful. He was the sole male swimming in a sea of females. He was bound to find a quiet, sweet girl willing to date him.

He panicked. Clark's cousin Kara had just walked in. He immediately dropped to the floor, hoping and praying she hadn't seen him.. She was loud, aggressive, impulsive and not his type. Unfortunately, he was hers and that meant trouble even after all these years. He had to get out of here quick. As he snaked along on the floor, he discovered just how dirty the floor was. He gulped as he felt a hand lifting him up by his sweater. It could only be one girl. Today was just not his day.

---

Clark x-rayed the Daily Planet first. As he went through all the floors, which was hardly easy with the number of floors, he found Louise chained up in the basement. He decided it would be better to rescue her as Clark Kent because there'd be less explaining to do.

"Louise, is that you?" he asked in his best bewildered voice. "What are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I thought nobody ever came down here except once in a blue moon to store more junk. I mean look at all the dust and cobwebs."

"That's normally the case. What happened?"

"Somebody knocked me out before I had a chance to leave. I didn't see who it was because the coward struck me from behind. I woke up chained in here. I guess I was going to be left here to starve and die of thirst."

"One of Lex's men I bet. They probably thought no one would miss you. It's a good thing they didn't kill you right away but you have to wonder why the bad guys wait."

"They like to play mind games I suppose but do you mind pondering these questions later? I'm a tad uncomfortable after hanging like this all day. You need to call a locksmith to remove the handcuffs."

"I don't think that'll be necessary. The links look a little weak to me."

"Well, they're not. I've been tugging at them almost all day."

"No harm in trying before I call."

He found a chair to stand up on and lightly tugged on them, which of course easily snapped them from the pole they were attached to.

She examined the broken cuffs closely, "I don't believe it."

"I told you it looked weak," he said taking the broken pieces of the handcuffs from her. "You haven't had anything to eat or drink today. Want to go out and get something?"

"Do you have to ask? Listen I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's forgotten and I'm sorry too. Would you turn the article in again if you could do it over?"

"Of course, I would. I'd just be more prepared for an attack. The article is important information for the public to know, it landed me a job, and it's making Lex Luthor antsy. Why wouldn't I do it over?"

"I had a feeling you'd say that. Sometimes I wonder if---let's go eat," Clark said, leaving what he was about to say unfinished.

About an hour later, they were coming through that apartment door. Clark had been telling Louise funny stories about Perry and they were both laughing. They both stopped laughing when they saw Lana standing there with her arms angrily folded.

"We need to talk, Clark. Alone," Lana said, the look in her eye, daring him to try and deny it.

Clark and Lana went into his bedroom. Louise sat down on the couch with no intention of eavesdropping on this fight. However, the yelling could be heard quite clearly. She hoped that Jason hadn't heard her and Clark this morning.

"Was I supposed to let her die?" was the first audible bit of the argument.

"Why do others always come first?"

"What I do is important. It was just a party."

"Just a party? It was our engagement party. How do you expect to have any sort of family life if you put work first? I need you. Our children will need you."

"I've managed having a wife before."

"Yeah but I'm different. Lois was strong, independent and a workaholic herself. I'm not like her."

"It's no different than being married to a doctor on call or a cop on duty. That's what Lois used to say."

"Lois had super sex to help her cope!"

Louise turned a deep, humiliated red. She shouldn't be hearing this. She plugged her ears in hopes of tuning it out.

"When are we going to sleep together?" Lana asked.

Clark sounded angry and embarrassed at the same time. "I told you I want to wait until we're married."

"Why? We've slept together before. You always used to shrug it off and you used not wanting to hurt me with your powers as an excuse. Obviously that's not a problem now. By the way, how did Lois talk you into it if you were so fearful of your powers doing damage and did you wait until your wedding day?"

"That information is private."

"Let me hazard a guess then. You didn't wait and she didn't have to do much convincing."

"Lana," Clark sounded very angry now, angrier than she'd heard before.

"I'm not done. I put up with a lot from you because I love you and I know you loved Lois more. I'll never experience that mutual kind of love you had with her and you already have a son from a previous marriage but I'm okay with that. I just have a feeling that you're going to chicken out on our wedding night."

"I promise I won't but you have to understand something. Whenever I reach out for you or kiss you, it's Lois I see. That's hardly fair to you and I'm doing my best to overcome that."

"You don't think I know that? It's why we broke up. We were about to take things a step further and you called out Lois, remember?"

"I remember."

"But my love for you exceeds any of our problems. I know you view me as a friend and not as a lover but a friend is enough for me. I have enough love for the both of us and I'll have you anyway I can, so sleep with me right now. I want to know what it's like to be with you when you have powers. It's now or never."

They had clearly lost sight of the fact that she was in the next room. She didn't want to be around for either direction it took but especially if he chose the first option. Once she was out in the hallway she breathed a sigh of relief but she still felt nauseous. During the course of the conversation, a part of her nightmare had been confirmed. Clark Kent was Superman. She was still sure she wasn't Lois. Her subconscious had picked it up and truthfully, she wasn't sure why her conscious hadn't picked it up as well. All the man did to disguise his appearance was don a pair of glasses when he wasn't fighting crime and a pair of tights when he was.

Mrs. Kent stepped off the elevator with a boy and began heading down the hall. Louise met them halfway. "I don't recommend going in there right now. Clark and Lana are a little preoccupied at the moment."

Disappointment filled Martha's eye as she realized the meaning behind the words and why wouldn't she, if she thought that Louise was Lois.

Louise felt uneasy about it herself. She didn't know whether she wanted to cry or go in there ranting and raving to break it up and maybe hit Lana while she was at it. She felt like doing both but she did neither, suppressing her misguided feelings. She smiled at Jason and said, "You must be Jason. I'm Louise. I'm sure your dad told you about me."

"How long are you going to stay?" Jason asked.

"Not long. Just until I can find a place to live."

He look saddened by the news and an awkward silence settled. Louise broke it, "I met your dog, Taco."

"He's my best friend. I wish he could come back home."

"He can," Louise said.

"Daddy said you're allergic."

"I am but I won't be here much longer. There's no reason why you should be separated from your dog."

"I'll go get him right now," running over and knocking on the neighbor's door.

"That's really nice of you," Martha said. "He loves that dog. When we thought you were dead, it hit him hard. He wouldn't look people in the eye or say I love you. I guess he was afraid to lose anybody else. The dog helped bring him back out of his shell."

"Then he should definitely have his dog."

"Your allergies aren't going to bother you?"

"They are but I can live with it. I'll pick up some allergy medication while I'm out tomorrow."

"Did you go to the engagement party?"

"No, something came up. Did you go?"

"I had to watch Jason. Clark didn't think he would enjoy a grownup party."

They were surprised when Lana came storming out into the hall. As she passed Louise, she said, "He's all yours," and got in the elevator.

Clark came out into the hall, "Lana--." He noticed the other 3 standing there and didn't continue. Instead, he let out a defeated sigh. He went back into the apartment, leaving the door open for them to come in.

Louise knew she should feel sorry for Clark and Lana and she did but she couldn't stop the well of joy bubbling up in her now that they appeared to have broken up for good.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

"Truthfully, son," Martha said, once they were in the apartment. "I can't say I'm not glad to see you've broken up."

"I'm sorry, Mom, if you don't like Lana but I am going to fix my relationship with her."

"I like Lana just fine. I just don't like the two of you together. It's an unhealthy relationship and painful to watch."

"You sound like Chloe. She told me something like that once. She said she was trapped in a front row seat to the Clark and Lana opera and she deserved a break. "

Louise snorted because she was trying to keep from laughing. She hadn't spent a lot of time around them but that was the perfect way to describe it. Her situation was worse than having a front seat because she seemed to have gotten a part in it that she didn't ask for or was prepared for. Not to mention it was a twisted, tiring play. Clark gave her an annoyed look and she got a grip on her laughter.

"Jason, why did you bring that dog in here?" Clark asked sharply, noticing the dog for the first time.

"Don't get hateful with him," Louise said. "I said he could."

Clark gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Jason. It's been a long day. It doesn't change the fact that Louise is allergic. Keep him in your room and go get ready for bed."

Jason left immediately to do what he said. Clark still sounded a little grumpy.

"Mom, thanks for watching him and dropping him off. If you don't mind, I'd like to turn in early."

"Okay. I just want you to know that if I sound like a busybody, it's only because I want what's best for my son."

"I know," he said in a tired but caring tone.

"And my daughter," she winked at Louise before she left.

Louise decided the best tactic was silence with Clark's mood and she smoothed the sheet on the couch that was still there from last night.

"Aren't you going to ask what happened with Lana and try to get me to open up?"

She didn't even look at him. "Nope."

He smiled gratefully. Lois had never pushed him to talk when he wasn't ready to. She had always seemed to know when to prod him and when to back away. Louise had the same gift.

Louise confronted with the empty room felt like talking to Jason, assuming he hadn't already fallen asleep. He hadn't. Jason smiled, happy to see her. Louise took a seat by his bedside. Taco started yipping at her.

Jason brought the dog closer to her. "Let him sniff you and then pet him. That might make him stop barking but sometimes he'll bite anyway but not hard."

Louise let him sniff her hand and then he wagged his tail as if he recognized the scent. The little dog jumped off the bed. Louise sneezed the sneeze she had been trying to hold back.

"He likes you," Jason told her.

"No, he can sense that I hate dogs and that they make me sick, so he pretends to take a shine to me merely to torture me. It's my curse. Le--a guy I knew had some guard dogs and the supposedly highly trained animals wouldn't stop following me around."

Jason laughed. She didn't know if it was because of what she had said or because her voice had developed a nasally sound thanks to her allergies or maybe it was a bit of both. Taco jumped back up on the bed and he had an ugly, sloppily made bear in his teeth. He dropped it in her lap and then laid back down. She smiled as she picked it up, "Who's this?"

"That's Ted. My mom made him for me when I was really little. Dad says she wanted to prove that all mothers can sew something for their kids if they really wanted. He wasn't really my favorite stuffed animal when I was little but he is now."

"It's very nice," she said, putting the bear next to Jason and tucking him in. She brushed his bangs away from his eyes. It was an automatic gesture, something she hadn't even thought about.

Jason's eyes had been drooping but now they were wide with excitement of a triggered memory. "My mom used to do that."

"Go to sleep," she whispered, brushing his hair away again. It soothed him and he closed his eyes. "Good night, Jason," she whispered before she shut the door.

"Good night, Mommy."

A tear rolled down her cheek. He probably hadn't even realized what he'd called her. He was very tired. She was leaving tomorrow for sure. She wasn't going to be responsible for making a little boy grieve for his mother all over again.

As she laid down on the couch, she realized part of the reason for going to see Jason was that she didn't really want to go to sleep. She didn't want to have another nightmare like last night's. It was a good 30 minutes before she couldn't fight sleep anymore.

It was dark outside as Louise drove and there was nothing but corn as far as the eye could see and she was feeling very frustrated. The occasional lightening flashed in the distance. She was on a cell phone. "K-E-N-T. Kent. It's a farm. Do they even have addresses?"

She had been on the phone forever with these incompetent people and it was driving her nuts. She held the phone between her ear and shoulder and took a sip of her coffee. She shook her head. "Mm-mn. Look the last super genius I had on the phone told me to turn right on Route 31. Now I'm totally lost."

The girl asked for a landmark. "Oh, about a billion stalks of corn."

Before the girl could respond lightening struck the cornfield right next to her car. Her phone went dead, so she closed it and put it down but kept driving. She was going to find that farm. Completely exasperated, she said, "That's just great." She pulled the visor above her seat down and pulled a cigarette from its strap and then looked at herself in the mirror. She looked young. "Okay, if you smoke this, you are going to spend the rest of the night hating yourself." She dropped the cigarette and began digging in her purse for gum but as soon as she took her eyes off the road, lightening struck in front of her car.

She swerved to miss it. She lost control of her car and went off the side of the road into a cornfield but it came to a stop without her getting hurt. She took a deep breath and then looked up at the cloudy sky. 3 bolts of lightening came down and merged into one, striking the ground. She ducked down. When she got the nerve to look back up, there was a big circle of flattened cornstalks. She stepped out of her car and looked around and saw the last thing she expected to see, a naked man. He raised up but his back was still to her. "Are you--are you okay?"

There was no response, so she tried again, "What's your name?" She walked very slowly toward him.

"I don't know," he replied.

"I need to get you to the hospital."

In a very robotic sort of voice he said, "I am fine."

"You've been hit by lightening, you're stark naked in a cornfield, and uh, you don't even remember your own name. You have a very loose definition of fine."

The man finally turned around. It was Clark and she struggled to keep her eyes on his face. "Look at his face," she told herself but she wasn't having any success. He was too good-looking. Clark was completely oblivious to the problem.

"I have a blanket in the trunk. Don't move. I'll be right back." She started to walk away.

"Wait." She stopped. "Who are you?"

"Lois. Lois Lane."

Louise jerked out of her dream in a cold sweat. This nightmare was even worse. It had seemed more real than the last one. She was finding it harder and harder to believe she was a clone even though all evidence pointed to it. The memories were not real she told herself. Clark was too shy to be naked like that and it would have put a real hitch in their relationship. If the explanation was that Clark wasn't himself at the time, surely he would be too embarrassed to have any sort of contact with her after a first meeting like that one. It was definitely all in her head.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Clark asked in a concerned tone.

"What are you doing up?"

"Getting a glass of water. If nightmares are keeping you from sleeping, you might want to consider getting some professional help. I had that problem after--sometimes you need to tell someone about your nightmares. There's a subconscious fear or revelation trying to work its way to the surface."

"Or I can just take a sleeping pill."

"You could except that you develop immunity after a while."

"You'd really like me to bear all my deep, dark secrets to a stranger and then pay them for it? It's not happening."

He came over to sit on the couch with her, bringing an extra glass of water for her.

"Do you think Lana and I are good for each other?" he asked rather abruptly.

"I think it's not my business to get involved in it."

"But I'm asking for your opinion."

"I think she loves you."

"There's a but in your voice."

"I don't think it's right that you don't love her back."

"I'm trying."

"I know but you can't force yourself to love someone. It just happens. Lana deserves someone who she can love and will love her back, despite the fact that she says it doesn't matter to her. One-sided relationships don't work out."

"I want it to work out. Jason has to have a mother. Someone who lives with us and brings that feminine touch."

"But more importantly you don't want to end up alone. Jason's going to grow up and move out one of these days. Jason seems fine to me and he seems to get plenty of female influence from his grandmother and Chloe. I think you're the one who wants a woman around the house. Not someone you love because you know you already found that once in a lifetime kind of love but someone you're comfortable and familiar with."

"How do you know me so well?"

She smiled. "I'm perceptive."

"Don't tell anyone I said this but sometimes I don't know if Lana loves me or…"

"Your powers?" she finished for him.

"How--

"I was in the next room. I got an earful but you can trust me to keep your secret."

"I know. I wouldn't be having this conversation right now if I didn't."

"A lot of women find power attractive. I hope I'm not embarrassing you but your case is even more extraordinary than money or influence. What woman wouldn't find sleeping with a superpowered being enticing?"

"Lois. She was one of a kind. When I was with her, it felt like she loved me for me and she would take or leave the powers. She made me feel special and normal at the same time if that makes any sense."

"It makes sense."

"Lana doesn't want to be with me. She wants to be with my powers."

She put her hands over his, "And you're cheating yourself if you settle for that."

"You're a good friend Louise."

"You're a pretty good friend yourself."

They had set down their glasses of water and were looking intensely into each other's eyes. It was an intimate thing to do, considering they weren't talking anymore. They should have broke eye contact awhile ago. Instead, they moved closer and closer until their lips were touching. It wasn't a long kiss and neither of them fully put themselves into it. It was short and sweet but it said a lot of things. It said gratitude and longing. It said that this relationship couldn't go on without serious consequences.

Louise stood up. She didn't have to explain anything. They both knew.

He gave her some money for a cab. "Stay with my mother."

"I'll pay you back."

"I'd rather you didn't."

"I don't really have anything to pack up. I guess I'll be seeing you around the Planet, Superman."

He nodded and Louise left.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Louise knocked on the Kent's front door. She didn't want to wake up Mrs. Kent but she didn't have much choice. She had thought about sleeping in the barn for tonight but it was too cold.

The light came on and Martha opened the door. "Lois, honey, what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry for coming by this late at night but I was wondering if I could stay with you?"

"Of course," she moved a way to let her come in. "What happened? Please, tell me it had nothing to do with Lana. My son can be so pig-head--"

"It had nothing to do with Lana."

"Did you two have a fight?"

"No, it was just a bad idea to stay there."

"I can see it in your eyes. Something happened. It had to for you to leave in the middle of the night. Is it because you're getting you're memories back?"

"No."

"We can be up all night," Martha said, pouring some milk for them. "You'll get a bed when you tell me what happened."

Louise smiled and took the milk. "That's blackmail, Mrs. Kent."

"Yep and I can do it effectively. I was a politician after all. So again, what happened?"

Louise laughed, "I bet you've never blackmailed anyone a day in your life."

"Don't let the farmer's wife image fool you. I'm doing it now, aren't I? I can wheel and deal with the best of them."

"Point taken. Do you promise not to tell Clark I told you?"

"I promise."

Louise still hesitated.

"I always keep my word. I was an honest politician."

"I don't doubt it. It's just Clark and I--we, well, we kind of--sort of accidentally kissed."

"Accidentally?" Martha said with an amused smile. "Did you trip and he broke your fall with his lips?"

Louise squirmed uncomfortably and avoided looking at her. "Not exactly." She looked up and saw Martha was still smiling and she cocked her head in an annoyed manner. "It's not funny and you know what I mean when I say accidentally."

"I'm not laughing at you. I think it's good news because you're both getting closer to realizing who you actually are."

Louise realized there was no arguing with this woman. "Can I go to bed now?"

"Sure. Do you remember where Clark's room is?"

"I've never been in here before."

"We only have 2 bedrooms. Clark's is the one with the smaller bed and it still looks like a boy's room. I never made it into a sewing room like some mothers do. It makes a great guest bedroom and Jason like to see and sleep in Clark's old room."

"Good night, Mrs. Kent."

"Good night, Lois."

Louise frowned and looked back but she didn't say anything. She just kept going up the stairs.

---

Louise woke up the next morning and in the early morning light, she thought she saw Clark and her mind drifted off to an earlier time in the same room.

"Smallville, it's 5:00 a.m. in the morning," she mumbled into the pillow. "What are you doing?"

"It's a farm. There's chores to do."

"Not by me."

"I didn't say you, did I but in case you've forgotten, this is my room where my clothes are."

She opened her eyes, "Oh, man, Smallville!"

"What?"

"Put a shirt on. I've seen more than enough of you to last me a lifetime. I'd appreciate it if you didn't parade around here half naked," but she hadn't stopped looking.

"It's my house and my room. I can do what I want in it." He opened the last drawer. "And I would have had a shirt on by now if somebody hadn't put all their clothes in my dresser. Where are mine?"

"You can borrow one of my shirts and get in touch with your feminine side. I recommend one of my yellow shirts. I never see you wearing yellow."

"You wear a lot of yellow, don't you?"

"No more than you wear red and blue. A touch of yellow wouldn't look so bad on you, you know."

"Lois, I don't have time for this. Where are my clothes?"

"Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. In the closet."

He grabbed a plaid shirt.

"Not the plaid."

He sighed and grabbed one of his solid colored shirts and left the room, making her smile. She hadn't even known him that long and she already had him under her finger.

Louise shook her head sending what she thought was another fake memory out of her mind and she put her feet on the floor. She quickly drew them back up because the floor was ice cold. She grabbed her socks and headed downstairs. She had to remember to buy some slippers, so she wouldn't have to waste time putting on socks. "Good morning, Mrs. Kent."

"Good morning, sweetheart," she said, setting a plate of breakfast food on the table.

"You didn't have to fix me anything."

"I wanted to and it would be bad manners to let you starve to death in my own home. What time do you have to go to work?"

"9:00."

"You better hurry then."

"I know."

"I left a fresh business suit for you to change into in the bathroom. It won't be a perfect fit but close enough. You'll have to do a lot of shopping."

"It's much easier when you actually have money."

"I'll lend you some and you can pay me back when you get a chance."

"I didn't mean--"

"I know but you're going to take it anyway."

"Yes, ma'am," she saluted military style.

"See a perfect military salute. You don't find that unusual?"

"Why should I?" She groaned. "Lois was a military brat, wasn't she?"

"See you know more than you think. As soon as you're sure of yourself, you need to call your dad and tell him you're alive."

"I'll try and remember--Mrs. Kent, you're confusing me."

"And your sister too."

"No offense but I can't hear you. I'm going to go look at apartments after work, so I don't know when I'll be back."

"You better hurry. I'm making a s'mores pie."

"S'mores? I love s'mores."

"I know."

"Are you bribing me into staying with your amazing cooking?"

"I might be," she smiled.

"I really have to go get ready. It's getting late."

As she was heading up the stairs, she thought she heard a dog bark, deeper and unlike Taco's annoying little yips but when she looked, Mrs. Kent was simply standing there doing dishes and there was no dog to be seen. She hoped there wasn't a dog around. It'd be just her luck. "Mrs. Kent, you didn't hear a dog bark, did you?"

"There hasn't been a dog on the farm for 10 years now. You must have imagined it."

'Great,' she thought to herself. 'Now I'm starting to hear things.'

---

"Your story is big news," Perry told her when she got to the office.

"Does everyone know the clone is me?" Louise asked.

"The public doesn't but I'm sure people around the office will. You're talking about a group of people who are paid to be observant and this is Lois' old workplace."

"If the government finds out, do you think they'll wan to run tests on me?"

"It'd be too controversial. They wouldn't risk it. If you were an alien they might take a chance but even Superman is allowed to roam the skies free."

"I suppose that's true."

"You have nothing to worry about except where your next story is coming from. I want you to dig up some more stories on Lex. I don't like him and I want his crimes exposed once and for all."

"Who doesn't? I'll get right on it," she said, starting to head out the door.

"It's nice to have you here, kid."

She smiled. "It's nice to be here."

"I'll get Jimmy to show you the ropes. Open the door for me."

Louise did and without getting up from his desk, he yelled, "Jimmy, get your butt in here!"

"Yes, sir, chief?"

"Jimmy," Perry said in a warning tone.

"I know, I know. Don't use the c word."

"Show Miss…um."

"Louise. I don't have a last name."

"Cool," Jimmy said. "Just one name like Sinbad or--"

"Jimmy, just show Miss Louise to her desk and leave out the chit chat."

"Yes, sir. This way, Miss Louise."

Louise smelled the scent of coffee and ink combined. She was sure nothing else smelled quite as good or familiar.

Jimmy began running his mouth 99 miles an hour once they were out of Perry's earshot. "Wow, Miss Louise I hope you don't mind me saying this but you look just like her. I had no idea just how much. It's neat. I read your article and it's very nice. I'm one of Clark's best friends and I was one of Miss Lane's too. I'm surprised no one told me sooner. Sometimes I feel left out of the loop. Well, here's your desk. You can put pictures or whatever kind of desk decorations you want. You've got a great desk. It's smack dab in the middle of the editor's office and the elevator, equal location. It used to belong to Lois actually. Do you know the coffee here is--"

Louise tuned him out because she spotted Clark getting off the elevator. He didn't notice her at first even though his desk was right across from hers but at last there was brief eye contact. He gave her a quick smile and then with great concentration began shuffling through papers. She could tell it was to give the illusion that he was busy and her heart fell. Their friendship had been ruined by that kiss.

"So if you ever need me to take pictures, I'm your man."

"Thanks, Jimmy. It is Jimmy, right?"

"Right and feel free to call me dummy or idiot. Lois always did when she was mad at me."

She laughed. "I'll be sure to remember that."

He gave her a big grin before he turned around to go. She could tell he was happy to have a Lois-like person at the Planet again. Lois had clearly left an empty place here that wasn't easily filled. She set down on the chair to find out how comfortable it was. It wasn't the most comfortable chair in the world but it wasn't the worst either.

Louise's mouth went dry and an inexplicable panic filled her when she saw who stepped off the elevator next. It was Lana. What happened to 'he's all yours'? Not that she had taken it seriously but they had just broken up. Lana walked right up to Clark's desk and kissed him for the whole newspaper office to see. How had they gotten back together so fast? It had to have been a record. The more Louise got to know Lana, the less she liked her. Louise watched the long kiss and felt like gagging, not to mention her heart was ready to shatter into millions of pieces. What was Clark Kent doing to her? She was stronger than this. What was Lana Lang doing? She hadn't stopped kissing him yet. Louise started to wonder if she was doing it on purpose as a way of marking her territory so to speak. At last, Lana broke the kiss and she even looked over at Louise but Louise was looking at Clark. He was giving her a guilty, apologetic look. Louise looked away angrily. If he wanted to resign himself to a life of misery, it was none of her business.

Lana ambled up to her desk. "Clark and I are getting married on Saturday."

"Oh, um…congratulations." Louise was stunned. She couldn't begin to process this or her feelings. Last night he wasn't even sure Lana really loved him for himself and he knew he didn't love Lana and most importantly he had kissed her, Louise. Then the next morning he's getting married to Lana that weekend and he didn't even tell her first, he'd let Lana do the honors.

"I'm going to have a very small bachelorette party tonight and I want you to be one of my guests."

"Me?" asked Louise, taken by surprise again. "Why me?"

"You're staying at Mrs. Kent's house and she's coming. There's no sense in leaving you out. I'll pick you both up at 8:00," she said in a fakely sweet voice and she left without asking her if she wanted to come or not.

"Why not?" Louise said in an irritated and defeated reply even though Lana wasn't there to hear. She got a strange urge to chuckle, wondering if Lana had roped Clark into marrying her in much the same manner.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

"You look mad, Mrs. Kent," Louise said.

Martha's face was flushed with anger and her arms were folded., as she kept a lookout for Lana's car. "I feel mad."

"Then why are you going to the bachelorette party?"

"Because you're going and I want to be a part of my son's life, which means being on good terms with Lana right now."

"You're his mother. He'd never leave you out if it."

"Don't underestimate the influence of a girl in a man's life. She can make the difference between weekly visits or once a year visits."

"Lois never kept him from visiting you, did she?"

"Of course not. If anything, you argued in favor of making more visits. You always said I was like the mother you never had."

"That's nice."

"And you were the daughter I never had."

"Can we change the subject, please?"

"If you want to, dear. How was work?"

"Awkward like I figured it would be. I've been assigned to uncover more stories on Lex."

"I hope you're being careful. The Luthors have always been a dangerous bunch and they can lull you into a false sense of security."

"I know."

"So how was the apartment hunting?"

"I only got to see a couple and they were way out of my budget."

"That's good--I mean bad," Martha covered with a smile. "Did you get any shopping done with the money I gave you?"

"A little but I had to come back for this party. I can't believe she invited me."

"I know and I can't believe my son is such a pushover and a nitwit and a--

"Mrs. Kent!" Louise exclaimed, surprised to hear such a sweet woman insulting her son like that.

"It's nothing I wouldn't and don't say to his face. He's got a big heart and I love him for it but sometimes he won't do what's right for himself and that means dumping Lana and accepting you as his wife. Sometimes it's like he's afraid to be happy. I have a feeling Lana may suspect that you're Lois as well. I mean Saturday? Can you believe it and inviting you of all people to her bachelorette party but I haven't given up hope. I--"

"Look there's a pair of headlights now," Louise interrupted, pointing out the window.

"Better get this over with." Martha opened up the door with a big smile on her face and a wave. It wasn't genuine but you'd never be able to tell. Louise knew she couldn't fake smiles and she never tried.

Lana owned a dark green Lincoln. She waved at them from the wheel. She wasn't the only one in the car. Louise recognized Chloe in the backseat and there was a blonde woman in the front seat and from the way she was staring at her curiously, she was no doubt another person that had known Lois. Martha gestured for her to get in first, so she climbed into the middle. Lana took off and accelerated at a ridiculous speed, not that Louise minded as long as the person was a safe driver but Lana seemed like the type who could get easily distracted. The blonde woman continued to glance back at her.

"What?" Louise asked at last in frustration.

"It's amazing how much you look like Lois," she replied.

"And you would be…?"

"Kara," she said, reaching back to shake hands. "I'm Clark's cousin. She's one of the first people I met on--Kansas. I knocked her out actually but then who hasn't knocked her out or tried to knock out Lois at some point. Even Clark's knocked her out before."

Louise looked shocked.

"Not of his own free will. It's one of those complicated stories and I wasn't even there. Me, I was a moody teen in a new place but Lois and I got along great after that. She was pretty cool. She'd be a wild cohort one second and the voice of reason the next. She knew when to draw the line most of the time. Something I--"

"Can we talk about something besides Lois," Lana interrupted. "I don't want her name brought up at my party."

The car became silent again until Lana piped up cheerfully, "So I haven't even told you where we're going. We're going to this great strip club a friend of mine was telling me about. The men are--"

"We're going to a strip club?" all 4 women cried out in different tones.

"Lana, how could you do that to Clark?" Louise asked.

"Clark had a last minute fling last night. Why can't I?"

"You broke up with him and it was hardly a fling," Louise said. "Clark would never go to a strip club."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Chloe said. "And what's this about a fling?"

"See!" Lana shouted. "He's been to one."

"Well, it must have been for a story," Louise defended him.

"It was," Chloe conceded. "But I bet you he didn't keep his eyes averted when he saw who was dancing onstage."

"Who was dancing?" the 4 of them asked when Chloe didn't go on.

"I'm not allowed to say her name."

"That figures," Lana muttered.

"She was undercover too at my insistence," Chloe explained.

"The point is," Louise said, getting back on topic, "if you really love Clark like you say you do then he should be enough for you. It's wrong and if you go, I'll have to wait out in the car."

"I'm not going to watch men, younger than my son, dance with no clothes on," Martha said. "Not to mention that I think it's immoral. I'll wait in the car too."

"What about you, Chloe?" Lana asked. "You don't have a boyfriend. I know you'll want to go."

"I'm going to have to go with Louise and Mrs. Kent on this one."

"Kara?" Lana asked.

"Bring on the strip club," she said with a smile, ready to high five Lana.

Chloe, who was sitting behind Kara's seat, kicked it.

"Fine, I won't go either," Kara said. "Let's all go to a Bible study instead."

"You can have fun without naked men," Martha chided.

"Maybe but it sure helps," Kara retorted.

Chloe kicked her seat again.

"You better stop that, Sullivan," Kara warned.

"Why don't we just go to a regular club?" Louise suggested.

"Whatever," Lana sighed.

They went to Club Metropolis. It had private rooms for parties and there happened to be one available. Lana rented it and brought a couple of bottles of champagne.

"There are men out there. Why aren't we dancing with them?" Kara complained when they got in the room.

"It's my party," Lana said, "and you all said no men."

"We said no naked men," Louise corrected.

"Whatever. I just want to get drunk out my gourd. No one's opposed to drinking I hope," Lana said passing a bottle and glasses around.

"Actually somebody has to be the designated driver," Martha said.

"If you want to drink, Martha," Kara said. "You know I can be the driver. We can all drink."

"No thank you, dear. I'm too old to be puking my guts out and getting hangovers. I'll take a little bit if there's going to be a toast but I'd rather drink water." Martha filled the glass half way and passed it on.

Chloe made the toast, "To Lana and Clark. May they find happiness."

They clinked glasses and started drinking.

Lana quickly drained hers and poured some more. "I don't guess I have any presents."

"It was too last minute but there'll be wedding presents," Chloe said.

"I got you one," Kara said, taking a book out of her purse.

"100 Ways to Get and Keep a Man," Lana read the title.

"It didn't help me with Jimmy but it may help you."

Chloe chuckled. "Still no luck with Jimmy?"

"I've tried all 100 ways but nothing works with him. I'd like to know how you managed to snag him."

"You could have almost any man you wanted. Why Jimmy?" Lana asked, disgusted.

"He's adorable, nice, and not into me, which I find attractive. I guess it's the whole fun in the pursuit. I know he thinks I'm attractive. It's only a matter of time," Kara said with a smile.

Lana rolled her eyes and then said giddily, "I've got an idea. Let's play a drinking game. Last one conscious wins. Martha and Kara are excluded of course."

"Why?" Kara asked with a teasing pout.

"You know why," Chloe said with a roll of her eyes. "And there's no way I'm competing with Louise."

"Why?" Lana asked.

"Because I can't hold my liquor wery vell. See? I've only had one glass and I'm already starting to slur. I've seen my cousin drink down beefy barroom alcoholics. She may not be Lois but she has the same genes and that plays a part."

"In other words, you're a chicken. Okay, Louise. Do you want to play or are you a chicken too?"

Louise frowned and then smirked. "You're on, Miss Lang," she said filling her glass with a second drink. It didn't take long to go through the bottles.

"How about we go with something quicker like vodka," Louise suggested.

"I prefer wine."

"It takes longer. We need something hard. How about whiskey?"

"Okay," Lana said sullenly.

"I'll get it," Chloe offered and left the room.

"I don't like you, Lou--ise," Lana said, drawling out her name.

"I didn't think you did," Louise replied calmly.

And I bet, no I double bet, that you don't like me and it all comes back to Clark but I'm going to be the bigger woman. You know why because he's going to be mine Saturday."

"So you've said," Louise replied.

"Yep, on Saturday the alien's all mine."

Kara and Martha gasped and watched for Louise's reaction. They expected surprise but got anger.

"Don't you dare call him an alien! I don't like it and I'm sure he doesn't either."

"So what do I call him?" she asked with a sneer.

"Call him Superman. Call him an intergalactic traveler or resident would be better since earth is his home now."

"Alien, intergalactic resident," Lana hiccupped. "Whatever."

"Whatever? He's the man you're supposedly in love with and you say whatever?"

"Hey, I'm just happy to be getting married. I'm in my 30s and still single. Sorry Kara and Chloe," she looked around, just realizing Chloe wasn't there and shrugged.

"So do you even really love him?" Louise asked, her temper starting to flare.

"I've known him like…forever. He's specialer to me than any man I know." She humphed and then got a very childishly afraid look on her face. "He scares me sometimes."

"Smallville?" Louise asked, unable to believe her ears. "Quiet, caring Clark scares you?"

Kara was surprised to hear Louise call Clark by Lois' old nickname for him and Martha was smiling and looking very pleased.

"He's got powers. He could crush you into powder with his bare hands."

"But he doesn't because he's as gentle and good-hearted as they come," Louise threw back.

"Not if he's on something or possessed or--but I guess that's where the green kryptonite comes in," she said, seeming satisfied with this answer. "Where's the alcohol?"

"What's green kryptonite?" Louise asked.

"It makes him weak and it can even kill him," Lana told her.

"What? And you have some of this stuff?" Louise roared.

"Honey, calm down," Martha said. "Lana's right and Clark knows she has it and insists she have it. Sometimes it's necessary. I've used it myself on occasion."

"Yeah, but I trust you," Louise said. "You've got enough sense not to use it for too long and keep a cool head. You wouldn't do anything to your son because you love him. If Lana got panicked, she might use it for too long and kill him."

"I would not," Lana said indignantly.

Suddenly Louise's eyes flashed dangerously and she said in a cold voice, "Tell me that stuff doesn't hurt Jason."

Kara and Martha scooted back in their seats at her tone.

In a sober state, Lana would have realized that Louise had the mad dog look that she'd seen on Lois before and would never have dared answer. "Yes, it can kill Jason too."

Louise jumped from her chair and Kara knew she had to hold her back from attacking Lana. Louise didn't try to struggle when Kara grabbed her but she glared hard and angrily at Lana. Lana shrunk down under the gaze. "If you ever and I mean ever use that on Jason, I swear you'll wish you were just as vulnerable to kryptonite."

Kara sensed that it was okay to release her and Louise headed for the door. She bumped into Chloe coming back with the whiskey. Chloe looked around the room and felt the tense silence that had settled. "Wow, what did I miss?"

"Nothing important," Louise said, "but I'm leaving early."

"She knows I'd drink her under the table," Lana said, forgetting how angry Louise had been a few moments ago in her drunkenness.

"Let's be realistic. You wouldn't have made it through 4 shots with me," Louise said. "You don't have the stamina."

"Then put your money where your mouth is," Lana said, folding her arms.

"And where's the maturity in that? Consider it my present to you that I'm letting you keep your money." She turned to Martha. "I don't know when I'll be home."

Martha simply nodded.

Louise left and she was sure everyone knew where she was going but she didn't care.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

Clark wasn't home, so Louise decided to go to the Daily Planet instead. When she got there, she found Perry, Jimmy, and Clark sitting around a table playing cards. It was a little smoky, since Perry had a cigar.

"Louise, what are you doing here?" Clark asked.

"I came in to get some work done. What are you guys doing here?"

"Ah, an employee after my own heart," Perry said, putting a hand over his chest. "This is Clark's bachelor party. I missed his engagement party, so I'm giving him this party."

Louise frowned. "So this is a bachelor party, a poker game?"

Perry held up a 6 pack of beer.

"Well, excuse me. The beer makes all the difference in the world."

"Of course it does," Perry said with a smile.

"Now shoo," Jimmy said. "Only men are allowed at bachelor parties, unless the woman's here to strip."

Louise folded her arms and glared.

"I mean you're welcome to stay, Miss Louise," Jimmy corrected.

"I thought you were supposed to be at Lana's bachelorette party," Clark said.

"I was but I left early. Can I talk to you for a minute in private?"

"Uh," Clark hesitated, unsure if he should be alone with her.

"Let me rephrase that. We're going to talk for a minute in private."

"You can use my office," Perry offered, knowing Clark couldn't and wouldn't say no.

"Is this about Lana?" Clark asked, once the door was shut.

"You bet it is," she replied.

"Look, if it's about last night. I'm very sorry. I know my getting married to Lana is rather sudden but she came to apologize. I told her about the kiss."

"I got that impression from her."

"She still wanted to give it another shot. That's dedication. She needs me, Louise and I've put her through a lot. She wants to get married as soon as possible and I figure it's the least I can do. She's been so patient and--"

"Stop. As riveted as I am to the Clark/Lana saga, I've heard more than enough. I get it. It's guilt on your part and obsession on hers that is making this relationship move right now. I'm not here to talk about your relationship with her, however."

"You're not?"

"I'm here to talk about Lana and Jason's relationship. After tonight, I'm not Lana's biggest fan and I'm not even going to delve into the reasons why. You've known her almost your whole life. If you still have blinders about her character, my opinion is not going to change that."

"I'm glad you--"

"I want to know how her relationship with Jason is."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean does she treat him like her son, a friend. How is their relationship?"

"Well, truthfully she hasn't gotten a chance to spend a lot of time with him."

"I thought so."

"That's unfair. She's a busy person."

"She always manages to spend time with you."

"But when they are together, everything's perfectly friendly. She brings him a present. He likes it and thanks her. They talk about school."

"She's about to become his stepmother and they're casual acquaintances?"

"You make it sound stupid."

"Because it is stupid!"

"Keep your voice down. I've seen Lana with kids before. She's good with them."

"But we're not talking about any kid. We're talking about your kid that you had with another woman. Of course, she's going to be nice to him before the wedding. It's after the wedding when things change."

"If you're worried about her being an evil stepmother that will ship him off to boarding school or make him slave around the house like in the movies, it's not going to happen. I'm still his father. I think I have a say in the matter."

"That's not what I'm trying to say. I'm saying that you're about to start living with this woman and they share no emotional bond or connection."

"I've talked about it with him and he's okay with everything. I'll try to arrange some time between them before the wedding though. Is that all?"

"Lana strikes me as the type who would do anything to survive in a bad situation and become emotionally undone."

"That's probably true to an extent but that's with bad guys. She has a right."

"So you're an ends justifies the means kind of person?"

"No but--"

"You say bad guy. What if somebody took over Jason's body and tried to attack her? Would she kill him with the kryptonite that I know she owns and probably carries in her pocketbook?"

He looked a little anxious as he thought about this.

"I don't care if you throw your life away with that woman. That's your decision but Jason doesn't get one. He needs and deserves a mother who will love and take care of him like he's her own as much if not more than you need a wife. If Lana can't love you both than maybe she's not the one."

"Lana will treat Jason just fine and learn to love him like he was her own. I appreciate your input but with all due respect, you need to stay out of my business."

"I will but listen to me, Clark Kent. If she hurts that boy in any way, I won't only get in your business, I'll hurt her. Call it Lois' motherly instincts kicking in. Do we have an understanding?"

Clark tried to laugh it away but he knew she wasn't joking. "I'd like to know what exactly happened at that bachelorette party."

She opened the door and walked out, having said what she had to say.

"Want to play some poker with us?" Perry asked.

"I don't know," Louise said.

"Why not?" Perry prodded. "Kent won't mind. The more the merrier. You were going to work, now you can play."

"Okay," she said, grabbing a chair. "I've never played poker before."

"That's the way we like it," Perry said with a smile, as he dealt the cards. "The rules are simple. The--"

"I know the rules. I've just never played."

"Fair enough. We'll start off slow," Perry told her.

"Who's been winning so far?" she asked.

Perry and Jimmy both gave grimaces and pointed at Clark.

Clark gave a sheepish grin under Louise's gaze. "I'm not cheating."

"Sure you're not," she said, tossing a poker chip in the middle.

"He wouldn't," Jimmy said.

"Yeah, one thing you can say about Kent is he's a regular boy scout," Perry backed him up. "He usually loses. Want a cigar? I'm about the only one who'll smoke them. I've cut back since my younger days but I always like to smoke them at a poker game or at a birth. It's tradition."

"Actually I think I will," Louise said.

They were all somewhat surprised but Perry gave her one.

"They're not good for you," Clark said, as Perry lit it up for her.

"Lighten up," she said. "They're my lungs."

They watched as she took a drag and blew it back out. They were no doubt waiting for her to cough. She smiled at them when she didn't. This was part of the fun. They obviously though her feminine, normally smoke-free lungs couldn't handle it. Perry and Jimmy were impressed. Clark wasn't.

"I wish you'd get rid of that cigar."

"Clark, get concerned about Perry's lungs. He's the smoker that's been doing it longer. I'm doing it for the fun of the party. Enjoy your last bit of freedom and quit harping about what I do. Can you give me a beer, chief?"

"Louise, I know you've been drinking," Clark said. "I can smell the champagne on you. How many glasses did you have?"

"Not many."

"How much is not many?"

"If I start to feel tipsy, I'll let you know."

"You're just good at hiding that you're drunk. That doesn't mean you haven't had too much to drink."

"Clark, who made you my mother? Let's play," she said, taking the beer and laying down her cards. "High card king."

They all laid down their cards.

"Finally the tide is turning," Perry said gleefully, grabbing the chips. "You might be my good luck charm, Louise."

"Just what I've always wanted to be," she said sarcastically.

"Hey, Louise?" Jimmy asked, his voice shaking.

"What is it?"

"Would you go out on a date with me?"

Perry and Clark laughed at the thought of the couple until Louise glared at them.

"Why?" she asked Jimmy.

"I think you're really neat and uh, it's a great way to get Kara to leave me alone for a bit," he added bashfully.

She smiled. "I accept."

"What?" all 3 men echoed in surprise.

"Jimmy asked me out. I accepted. It's no big deal. I don't want to go out tonight, Jimmy. It's getting late and I'm getting drunk."

"Aha," Clark cried out triumphantly. "You have had too much to drink."

Louise finished the beer bottle she'd been drinking. 'No, I just prefer to start out the evening with no alcohol in my system." She was still smoking on the cigar. It reminded her of something, of somebody. It was kind of hazy at first. The man was balding and in a general's uniform. She felt both a fondness and some aversion for him. It made her think of a young Lois smoking a cigar and getting caught by--

"Louise. Louise!"

"What?" she asked, snapping back to reality.

"How many cards?" Perry asked.

"3." She put the cigar in the ash tray. This time her high card was a 10. Perry won again. "One more game, guys and I think I'm going to leave. I have a long drive."

"That you won't be driving," Clark said sternly.

"Duh," Louise said with a roll of her eyes. "Unless a car and a driver's license happen to magically appear when I step outside."

Perry hesitated about how much to put in.

"I'm going to put all of my chips in," Louise stated.

"You do know we're gambling with real money, don't you?" Perry asked.

"Yes but if you're going to play, you should play. I'm a little foggy on the hands. Can you go through them for me?'

"Sure," Perry laughed. "A pair is 2 cards of the same rank. 2 pair is when you have 2 pairs. 3 of a kind is when--"

"That's enough," she said.

Clark looked at her, amusement flickering in his eyes. "I think I'm going to sit this one out."

She wondered if he'd been x-raying people's cards or just knew the people at the table too well.

Jimmy and Perry eagerly put in their chips. Jimmy had a straight and Perry had a flush. Perry started raking them in before Louise put down her cards.

"Not so fast, Perry," she said. "A royal flush." Perry and Jimmy's mouths fell open. She smiled and stood up. "I think those chips are mine. Don't worry about paying me back right away. I'll give you until payday."

After she left, Perry said, "Jimmy, I believe we've been duped by the best."

"You certainly have, sir," Clark said with a grin. "There wasn't one sign that she was lying."

"Not one bloody sign," Perry muttered as he dealt another round.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey, Jimmy. Are you ready for that date?" Louise asked with a smile as he passed by her desk.

"Now? It's lunchtime."

"I love it when a man knows it's time to eat."

Jimmy's cheeks tinged pink.

"Why not lunchtime? Otherwise, it'd be dinnertime and I'm actually pretty busy in the evenings with apartment hunting."

"I guess it'll be fine," Jimmy said. "Where do you want to eat?"

"You can pick but make sure they serve coffee. I need a caffeine fix."

"I wouldn't dream of taking you or anyone remotely like you anywhere that didn't have coffee."

"Are you implying that I'm snappy without it?" she teased.

"The best place I know is on this street actually."

"What are we waiting for?" she asked, standing up and grabbing her pocketbook.

They walked there and got a table by the window.

After they ordered, Louise sat back in her chair and said, "This is much better than an evening date would have been, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it's low-key unlike a fancy dinner date. There's no pressure for romance."

"You're saying this isn't a date. It's an outing."

"Yes. No. I mean--" Jimmy stuttered, his eyes wide with alarm.

"Relax. This is just 2 new friends going out to lunch. I don't want to date you romantically and I know you feel the same way."

"You do?" Jimmy asked surprised.

"It's one of the reasons I suggested lunch."

"It's not that you're not attractive. I even used to have a tiny crush on Lois but please, don't tell anyone I said that. Lois and I were more like…"

"Brother and sister?" Louise filled in.

"Exactly, a big sister. Someone to mentor me and give me advice. Someone to yell at me and clobber me."

Louise laughed, "I'm glad you picked up that it's the same kind of thing between us but then why did you ask me out?"

"Well, for one thing I didn't want you to think you couldn't date because of your background and all."

"That's sweet, Jimmy."

"Men would be happy to date you. I also kind of picked up on what's going on between you and Clark."

Louise spit the coffee she had in her mouth back into her cup. "What? There's nothing going on."

"That's what Lois and Clark used to tell me too but I have a 6th sense when it comes to this stuff. You're crushing on Clark and--"

"I am not!" Louise cried, feeling her face grow warm.

"He's crushing on you too but he feels tied to Lana and he doesn't want to give in to his feelings for you because you're too much like his wife and he doesn't want her to be the reason he loves you. Am I right?"

"No, you're not," she replied, slightly angry and embarrassed that he had said exactly what was going on.

Jimmy kept smiling because he knew he was right. "I thought it'd be good for Clark to see you with another man and it was kind of a saving face gesture for you, since he has Lana but I'm afraid he didn't take it very seriously."

"You don't look it, Jimmy Olsen but you're a very wise person in some ways."

"Thanks. I think," Jimmy said.

She leaned across the table and kissed his cheek.

"Louise! Jimmy!" called Clark from the doorway.

"Then again it may have worked better than I thought," Jimmy said pleasantly surprised at the kiss and Clark's arrival.

"Mind if I Join you?" Clark asked, sitting down before receiving a reply.

"No, not at all," Louise said sarcastically. She was annoyed. She reached across the table and took Jimmy's hand with the intent of annoying Clark back. She was secretly pleased though that she was making him jealous. She flashed a radiant smile at Jimmy and said. "You were just telling me how you and Lois met."

"I was?" he asked and she kicked him under the table. "Oh, I was. Well, I dated her cousin. It wasn't until later we started working together. We hit it off right away."

"Their relationship was based mostly on photography," Clark interjected. "Lois would need pictures and Jimmy took them."

"You make it sound like she used me," Jimmy said to Clark.

"She did," Clark replied.

"No more than she used anybody else. She appreciated me as a friend and I'll have you know she paid me for my pictures when they weren't very good. She was a stand up person that way." He turned his attention back to Louise. "We were very good friends even from early on. We had to be because we got in some adventures together."

"Scrapes would be a better word," Clark said.

"It's the same thing," Jimmy said. Then Jimmy smiled at Louise. "You want to see something." He pulled a picture out of his wallet.

Louise squinted at image. "It's dark and hard to see. It looks like Lois is smooching a guy in a green hood."

"That's what it is. It's the first picture I took of Lois. It's also my first shot of the Green Arrow's face. Well, sort of."

"Yeah, Lois' face is kind of covering it," Louise said, handing it back to him.

"It was a good picture for me at the time. He was gone before I got a chance to get a picture of his face. You want to know something weird? Lois wanted a copy of it after she and Clark had gotten engaged."

Louise looked at Clark questioningly.

He shrugged. "It's a long story."

"You know I'd love to hear you tell some more stories," Louise said flirtaceously to Jimmy.

"You would?" He wasn't a good story teller or he would have been a writer. Most people begged him to stop and his metaphors made them groan. She winked and he got the message.

"You know I'm sorry Clark," Louise said, "but this was actually our first date. We'll see you at the office though. Come on, Jim. Let's go somewhere else and have an adventure of our own."

Clark looked down at his coffee and stirred it rather vigorously.

"I feel kind of bad for him," Jimmy said, once they were out of earshot.

"It's nothing he hasn't brought on himself. No one's forcing him to marry Lana. If you want to feel bad, feel bad that we left him to foot the bill."

"Oh my gosh, we did," he said, turning to go back to the café.

Louise grabbed his arm. "Pay him later. We have work to do."

"What?" Jimmy asked.

"I meant it about having an adventure."

"What kind of adventure?"

"I want to confront Lex Luthor in person at his house."

"No, no, and no."

"Why not?"

"Didn't you hear Clark? He was right about the adventures being scrapes. Even the ones we planned carefully and scrapes with Lex Luther were double bad. No, scratch that triple bad."

"Think of the pictures you could get."

"Of what? Lex Luthor's nose flaring because you're making accusations?"

"Oh, come on and do it for old times sake. I'm going with or without you."

"Well, when you put it like that."

"I knew I could count on you."

"Yeah, I need to learn how to say no. If Lex Luthor breaks my camera, you're paying for it and it's very expensive."

"He's broken your camera before?"

"My cameras tended to get broken on assignments with Lois more than with anyone else. She had a knack for making the bad guys angry and destructive. Promise you'll be polite when you talk to him."

"Of course," she grinned, as she picked up her pace.

"You're lying. I can tell," Jimmy said, as he skipped to keep up with her longer strides.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

"I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly," Lex said, looking up from his desk, "but I guess I did, Jimmy Olsen and my favorite new reporter. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"My name is Louise and I expect to be addressed by that," Louise said with her arms folded.

"Ah, yes. Louise. I read your article."

"I know you did. You made an attempt on my life to show it."

"Louise, you wound me. I'd never kill you. If I wanted to, you'd have been dead along time ago and besides, what motive could I possibly have? You can't prove I cloned you because quite frankly I didn't."

"I am the proof."

"What do you want from me?" Lex asked, getting bored with the conversation. "Another story because I don't have one unless you want to come to my press conference this evening."

"I--" Louise started to say but she got a faraway look in her eyes and her knees started to buckle. Jimmy ran to her side to keep her from falling. The world spun and her head pounded as a floodgate of memories rushed back. She remembered her mother dying, her father dragging her all over the country, and how she wished she'd spent more time wither her sister growing up. It had been a rough childhood but it had its moments and best of all it was her childhood. She remembered going to Smallville to investigate her cousin's death and then never really leaving because the Kents and Chloe, of course, became her family. She became a reporter, married Clark, and they had a son together. She had a family and an identity that she loved, at least until Lex Luthor had taken it away from her. She was still fuzzy on why he had done it in the first place. "You, monster," she growled at Lex.

Lex had pulled out a gun and they'd been so distracted, they just now noticed it. He said in a cold, matter-of-fact tone, "I take it you got your memories back then, Lois?"

"Lois?" Jimmy questioned.

"Yes," Lois answered. "I'm really Lois after all."

"And here come the thugs," Jimmy groaned, as 3 burly men with weapons entered the room. "And there goes my camera," he said, as the men seemed to find it necessary to throw the bulky camera across the room.

"You'll never get away with this," Lois said, wishing she had regained her strength, so she could attempt to beat the guys up.

"But I already have," Lex smiled, "for the past 3 years."

A little later, Lois and Jimmy found themselves chained in the basement, which was very reminiscent of a dungeon.

"I'm sorry I got your camera broken," Lois apologized.

"That's okay, Lois. I'm so happy to have you back, you can break my camera anytime you feel like it."

She smiled. "That's a very nice thing to say, especially coming from a photographer. I assume I still have to pay for your camera though."

"Don't worry. You can put my gambling debt toward it," Jimmy grinned. "I really have missed you but maybe not this part of things. Now would be a good time for Superman to enter, wouldn't it? It's times like these I wish I had a signal watch or something to call him with."

"Unfortunately, Lex soundproofs and sightproofs his house from Superman. It wouldn't help now. We'll have to get out on our own or hope that Lex is feeling merciful."

"I have a bad feeling about what he's going to do to us," Jimmy said.

"I have a worse feeling. Although being around familiar people and things helped trigger my memories, I've had a little help with staying an amnesiac clone."

Jimmy gulped. This definitely wasn't good.

---

Lana came into the Planet with a covered dress and walked over to Clark's desk. "Where's Louise?" she asked.

"Out with Jimmy," he muttered, not looking away from the monitor and continuing to pound on the keys. "What do you need?"

"Well, you know Margie from work, one of my closest friends?"

"Sure."

"No, you don't. You never keep up with my friends from work. Well, apparently her grandmother's in the hospital and she has to go out of state to see her."

"That's terrible."

"I know the wedding's tomorrow."

"I meant about Margie's grandmother."

"Oh, right. That too. I'm sure she'll be just fine. Anyway Margie's very tall and thin and this dress was custom made, so its going to be hard to find a replacement. It's too late to do any major refitting."

"You still have Chloe as your maid of honor. Isn't that enough? I just have Jimmy as my best man."

"Because it's pathetic to only have one member in your wedding party. It makes it look lie you don't have a lot of friends. Anyway, Louise is just the right size."

Clark stopped typing and looked up at Lana incredulously. "You want Louise to be your bridesmaid?"

"I know it's a little weird but she's your friend and we don't have any differences that we can't settle for the sake of the wedding. When do you think she'll be back?"

"Who knows?"

"You don't have to get snippy about it."

"Sorry. It's got nothing to do with you. Why don't you leave it at her desk and I'll tell her about it when she gets back."

Lana draped it on her chair.

"So is everything else running smoothly then?" Clark asked.

"As smooth as glass."

"So you're sure there's nothing I can do? When Lois and I got married, we split wedding duties half and half. She said wedding stuff wasn't just women's work that I was getting married too."

"I guess I'm more traditional. I already know just how I want everything. All you have to do is rent a tux and get to the church."

"As long as you're sure."

"I am," and she left in a hurry. She probably had a 100 other things to do.

He sighed as he looked over at the dress, He didn't want Louise to be in the wedding party. He would stare at her instead of at the bride. He x-rayed behind the bag to look at the dress. It looked like it was going to be low cut. It was the last thing he needed. He looked at his watch. Louise and Jimmy had been gone since lunch, almost 3 hours now. He was going to give them exactly 5 more minutes and he was going to go find them, no matter what they were doing.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

When Lex Luthor came in, Lois knew he had the stuff in his pocket but he didn't bring it out immediately. He wanted to toy with them like a cat playing with a mouse before it devours it. Her heart sped up in anger and anticipation of what was coming.

"Let Miss Lane go," Jimmy said bravely. Although it was clear he was shaking.

Trying to play the gallant knight?" Lex said with a smile. "It doesn't work for you."

"Why, Lex?" Lois asked. "Why won't you just let me be myself?"

"I guess there's no reason why I shouldn't tell you. It's not like you're going to remember it. For one thing, it's just so darn fun intervening in your life. Think about it. If I hadn't made it look like you died with the poison and taken you away, you would still be happily married to Clark. Maybe even had another kid. He certainly wouldn't be marrying Lana tomorrow and just think of what you've missed in Jason's life. That's 3 years of school recitals, Christmas', birthdays gone forever and he barely remembers you. It utterly delights me. I've given you a whole new life by telling you you're a clone made by me and the sheer irony of it all. I'm just so evil and loving every minute of it. Your family still gets to suffer by thinking you're dead. Did you know Superman isn't half as good without you by his side? I think he had a thing for you. You weren't having an affair behind Clark's back, were you? It's made him more sloppy and a little less caring. I've all but taken the fight out of him and if it wasn't for his belief that you'd want him to keep saving the world, he'd probably stop altogether. It's made my life much less stressful."

"If Superman ever finds out what you've done," Lois said, "he'd tear into you and show no mercy. He'd be so furious, there isn't anywhere you could hide or anything you could say to stop him."

"No doubt but he's never going to find out." He pulled out the syringes and the needles glimmered in the dim light. "There's just something so thrilling about playing with someone's life and knowing that with this concoction, I control the mind of Lois Lane."

"What is that?" Jimmy asked, not quite sure he wanted to know.

"They're amnesiac drugs," Lex said, " a little different from each other. The blue one is for you. It'll only make you forget the past couple of hours. The green one is for Lois. It will not only help her suppress all her memories but I'm able to suggest memories to her. It requires a monthly doseage and she doesn't live with me anymore but it shouldn't be too difficult for someone with my degree of power and criminal tendencies. I waited too long before. That stupid dope dropped the stuff when he attacked you at the Planet but this time I'm doing it. I'm just glad you came to me in time and it's been fun rubbing your situation in your face." He plunged the needle into her with a powerful thrust, a look of devilish glee on face as he enjoyed hurting her and hearing her gasp of pain.

---

"It's not in there, Louise," Jimmy said, coming back out of the café.

"I'm pretty sure you had the camera at lunch," Louise said. "You seem to have it with you most of the time."

"I probably left it in there and someone stole it."

"I'm sure if you had left it in there, Clark would have gotten it for you. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know but Perry's not going to be happy if he has to send me on assignment and I don't have my camera. I guess I can borrow someone else's until mine shows up or I have to buy a new one."

"We'd better get to the office. We've been gone too long."

"Yeah, it's almost 3:30. What have we been doing?"

"We've been goofing off," she answered quickly without thinking about it.

"We have?" Jimmy asked. "What have we been doing specifically?"

"I don't know." Louise replied. "Just goofing."

They quickly made it to the Planet and rode up the elevator. When they got off, Clark was standing there with his arms folded. "Where have you two been?"

"We've been go--" Louise started to answer.

"Shopping," Jimmy said. "Louise needed to do some shopping."

Jimmy glared at Louise, trying to figure out why she was being so honest about it. She shrugged at him like she wasn't sure herself. Clark picked up on this silent exchange between them and wasn't pleased. He went back to his desk in a huff, Jimmy went to find a camera, and Louise went to her own desk.

"What's this?" Louise asked, taking the dress out of the bag. It was a bright purple edged in pink. "Oh my gosh, this has to be one of the ugliest dresses I've ever seen. Where did it come from?"

Clark had been inclined not to talk to her because he was still mad but then he figured it would make Lana pretty mad if he didn't tell her, not to mention Louise if she found out. She wasn't a person easily ignored anyway and it was a childish thing to do. "Lana dropped it off for you. She wants you to be in her wedding party."

"You're joking."

"I'm afraid not. Apparently you're the only person who'll fit into this dress."

Louise wrinkled her nose in disgust as she looked back over the dress. "That's a good thing because no one should ever have to wear this thing. It should be burned."

Clark couldn't help but chuckle and he became much more relaxed. "It won't be so bad. Chloe's going to be the maid of honor, so you can hang out with her and you'll even be wearing the same dress."

"I don't know."

"If you won't do it for her than do it for me. What do you say?"

Louise sighed and put the dress down. Then she rolled her chair over to Clark's desk. "I'd say that depends. You know how much I look like--you know. It's bound to make the wedding awkward."

"I'm not sure if you being there or not being there is going to make much difference in that respect," he said with his eyes downcast.

"Look at me, Clark."

He looked up at her and his blue eyes revealed so much innocence and sadness. Louise wanted to take him in her arms and comfort him or smack him upside his head and knock some sense into him. She took his hand in hers and he didn't protest. She said very slowly and seriously. "If you even have the slightest doubt about this, you shouldn't go through with it. We're talking about a lifetime commitment here, well supposed to be lifetime unless you get divorced but if you have kids, still lifetime. Anyway what I'm saying with this babbling is you shouldn't feel any doubt. You should think about at least postponing it, it's all happening so fast. I just want what's best for you and Jason."

"I know and I think this is what is best."

"It's your decision. I--"

"Olsen! Louise! Get your butts in here!"

"Uh-oh," Louise said, standing up. "I can guess what this is about."

"So what were you and Jimmy actually doing all that time?" Clark asked. "You don't have to tell me if it's private. Did you go to see his apartment?"

"You know I…I'm not really sure. We left the café when we…we, uh, goofed around I guess but I don't really know what we did. It wasn't shopping."

"I didn't think so. Jimmy's a terrible liar."

"I know I figured that out at poker last night. You can read his face like an open book."

"Does Jimmy remember what you two did?"

"He doesn't actually. It's strange. It's not important though. I have to go tell Perry I want to drop the Lex Luthor investigation."

"Why?"

"I don't know," she said with a puzzled expression, "but I do."

"Louise!" came Perry's angry yell.

"Coming, chief!" she shouted, heading for the office.

Clark leaned back to think about what she just said. There was something strange about it but he didn't know what. He sat back up and called after her, "Are going to be a bridesmaid?"

"I'll be there!" she called back.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

24 hours and 17 minutes later, Louise found herself in the ugly purple dress watching Lana apply her makeup. She was grateful that Chloe was also there in the same ugly dress, only hers was worse being the maid of honor because it had more and bigger bows. The odd thing that Louise noticed was Lana's wedding dress was very pretty. Lana definitely had a good sense of fashion in everything Louise had ever seen her wear. Lana had to know these purple dresses were ugly. Louise asked her why she picked them out.

"They are ugly, aren't they?" Lana responded. "The bridesmaid dresses shouldn't be prettier than the bride's."

Louise rolled her eyes in Chloe's direction.

Chloe smiled. "So how's life as a reporter treating you, Louise? Any new stories?"

"No, not right now. I--"

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in, unless you're Clark!" Lana called.

Jason walked in looking very nervous. He came about halfway into the room and then looked bashfully in Lana's direction.

"It's okay, Jason," Louise said. "I promise we don't bite."

He grinned and then walked all the way to the vanity table where Lana sat. He pulled out a macaroni necklace. "This is for you."

Lana took it, not quite sure what to make of it. "What is this?" she asked.

"I made it for my mom when she went away but she never came back, so I never got a chance to give it to her. Since you're about to become my new mom, I thought you should have it."

Lana clearly didn't appreciate the heartfelt gift he'd given her. She dropped it on the corner of the table without a thank you or a smile. It made Louise mad. If she'd been in Lana's place and he'd given it to her, she would have cherished it, even worn it during the wedding. The macaroni necklace was much more valuable than the pearl necklace that currently adorned Lana's neck.

"Listen, Jason," Lana said. "I want you to understand that I'm not going to become your new mommy. I still expect to be called Lana. We're about to start living together but if you stay out of my way then I'll stay out of yours. Is that clear?"

Louise laid a protective hand on Jason's shoulder. He looked embarrassed now. Louise led him toward the door. "It's a beautiful necklace, honey," she said. "Lana likes it very much. Why don't you go find your grandma, so you guys can get a good seat? Okay?"

"You should have let him be ring bearer," Chloe said, after he was gone. "He's not too old for the job. I think he's feeling a little left out."

"You should have let him be your son," Louise said coldly. "Most stepchildren don't try to make connections like that on their own and believe me, you're going to want to make that connection when he enters the rebellious years. They're hard enough with it. He needs that motherly affection. It's a part of the reason Clark is marrying you and you know it."

"Stay out of my life," Lana said annoyed. "This is my wedding day. I've made it and it doesn't matter now why he's marrying me, just that he's marrying me." Lana picked up the necklace. "This thing is so old, some of the macaroni is crumbling off. I'm just going to throw it away."

She started to throw it in the trash but Louise snatched it. "What are you doing?"

"It's not like he's ever going to check and see if I still have it."

"You'd be surprised. I'll take it if you don't want it. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go get some fresh air."

Clark had his own room too. He was ready. He was just passing time by talking to Jimmy and Kara.

"I'd like to talk to Clark in private," Louise said, "if you don't mind."

"We don't mind," Kara said, taking Jimmy by the hand. "Come on, Jimmy. Let's go see if we can get a drink before the ceremony."

I--I," Jimmy tried to say he didn't want to but never quite got the words out.

Clark was laughing at their antics but stopped when he saw how fierce Louise looked. She held out the necklace. "Look at this! Lana was about to trash the necklace Jason gave her as soon as he left."

"As long as she didn't hurt his feelings."

"Don't you understand anything? It shows she doesn't care about him, especially in a motherly way."

"That'll take some time."

"Time she's not willing to devote! I care more about him than she does. I can even say I love him and I just met him. She's going to have kids with you, assuming she wants to risk having alien children and those are her words not mine by the way, and she may she turn out to be a perfectly good mother to them but not with Jason and Jason and the kids will notice it!"

"Calm down," Clark said gently.

"I will not calm down!" Louise yelled, she could feel the tears starting to fall. "She's not going to treat Jason that way and you're not going to let her! She acts like the universe revolves around her but why shouldn't she? You and everyone else around her pretty much worship the ground she walks on, giving in to her every demand!"

"Are you done?" he asked.

"No! You can't marry her! You don't love her and you said yourself she doesn't love you for you but I do. I love you!" her hand flew to her mouth. She couldn't believe she'd just said that out loud. It wasn't untrue but she hadn't meant to confess it either. Before she could apologize, Clark's arms were around her and she forgot about her apology. In fact, he apologized to her.

"I'm so sorry, Louise," he said.

She pushed him away. "This is embarrassing enough. Please, don't add to it with your pity. Just tell me you don't love me."

"That's the problem. I can't."

Louise wasn't sure she'd heard right. "What?"

"I love you too. When you were staying at the apartment, I can't tell you how much happier I was and it hasn't been the same since you've gone to stay with Mom. I adore so many things about you. The way you're never afraid to say what you're thinking, unless of course it has to do with your emotions. The way you tricked Perry and Jimmy at poker made me laugh. You always want to do the right thing, no matter if it endangers your life and you care about people. The list goes on and on even though I've only known you for a few days. I love you but those are the same qualities I admired in Lois. I love ypu because you're so much like Lois and that's not fair to you."

"So what? Since I'm so much like Lois, I'm probably in love with you for pretty much the same reason because Lois loved you. However, is that really more warped than your relationship with Lana or is it because I'm a clone?"

"I don't exactly have normal origins myself. That's not it. It's because you're Lois' clone."

"Then I suppose there's nothing left to talk about, is there, Clark?"

"I--I guess not."

She started to go but then she turned back around. "Don't you ever come to me after you've married her and tell me you're unhappy because it'll be too late. You've had more than enough warning from me and your mom. I'm also going to warn you to watch Lana carefully when she's around Jason. I don't think she's going to cause him bodily harm but sometimes the emotional harm is much worse."

"We're still going to be friends, aren't we?"

"Yes, on some level. Something tells me I couldn't hate Clark Kent no matter how hard I tried or how stupid he got."

He smiled.

"I have a feeling though you're going to be on a very tight leash after you're married. Good luck. You're going to need it," and she left.

She was still mad but she managed to contain it again.

Chloe came out into the hall. "There you are. Lana's freaking out about you going AWOL."

"Chloe, I've been giving it some thought and I don't think I can be Lana's bridesmaid after all."

"No, you have to," Chloe said in a tone that meant there was no room for argument. "She's going to have a meltdown if you don't."

"But--"

"No buts," Chloe said, positioning herself behind Louise and pushing her, "Now march."

Louise felt very awkward when she had to march down the aisle. It was wrong and she knew it. She felt Clark's eyes on her the entire time. She wasn't even sure his eyes went immediately to Lana when the wedding march began to play and Lana entered. He certainly looked like he was forcing himself to keep his eyes there. All too soon, the preacher began speaking and when he asked Lana if she took this man to be her lawfully wedded husband, it was no surprise that Lana said "I do". Then came Clark's turn. Louise looked away. She couldn't bare to watch. As Clark said "I can't", 3 cries of "I object" rang out from Jimmy, Martha, and Louise.

"Um," the preacher said uncertainly, "this is a first."

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

There was complete silence in the church. You could hear a pin drop.

The preacher cleared his throat nervously. "No one's ever said no at a wedding I presided over and it's certainly the first time I've heard objections or 3 objections to be precise. I guess it's not important to hear the reasons why as the groom has already put a stop to it. So, uh….wedding adjourned."

Some of the wedding guests started to get up.

Lana screamed out hysterically, "Sit down! No one's going anywhere until I get married or I find out the reason."

"Lana, don't you think we should talk about this somewhere less public?" Clark said in a kind tone.

"No! It can't get anymore embarrassing. You dumped me at the altar. So why, Clark? Why can't you marry me?" She looked over at Louise. "Don't tell me you're in love with this experiment."

"That's uncalled for," Clark said sternly.

"I'll say it is," Jimmy said. "She's--"

"Not right now, Jimmy," Clark said. "I can't marry you because we're not right for each other. We never have been. We'll make each other miserable. You'll find someone who's better suited for you one of these days."

"And you've already found that someone?" Lana asked him.

"Yes, and she passed away 3 years ago."

"She di--"Jimmy started to say but was interrupted by Lana.

Lana was looking at Louise again. "It's because she showed up and reminded you of her, didn't she?"

"Quit trying to drag Louise into this," Clark said. "This has nothing to do with her. It's about me and you."

"I want to know why you objected," Lana said accusingly to Louise, "and I want the truth."

"There's no reason for me to lie," she answered her. "It's exactly like Clark said. You're not well-suited for each other and you'd both end up unhappy."

"What about you, Martha?" Lana demanded.

"It's nothing personal, dear but my main concern is that his wife is still alive, making this marriage illegal."

"You deluded woman," Lana sneered. "This is not Lois."

"Actually--" Jimmy attempted to speak again.

"Lois is as dead as dead can be," Lana said. "She--"

"Actually!" Jimmy yelled. "If people would stop interrupting and listen to me for once, I'm trying to tell you Louise is Lois!"

Once again the room fell silent until Chloe broke it by asking, "How do you know?"

"When Louise and I were gone for that long period of time yesterday, we went to see Lex. She got all her memories back there and Lex admitted that she was Lois. He drugged us a little differently. Hers gives her complete amnesia unless Lex suggests she keep them and he can even make some memories up. My drug was just to make me forget the past couple of hours. I guess because I was wriggling so much, not all of it went in, so it wasn't permanent. I am 100 percent positive that she's Lois. Keep her away form Lex for a month and she'll know it too."

For the third time silence settled in a room full of people. It had to be record. Chloe was the first to respond. She had tears in her eyes as she hugged Lois, who was still too shocked to comprehend.

Chloe's hug prompted Lana's scream and exit from the room. No one attempted to follow her, not even on the bride's side. The room was now a buzz with excited chatter. Martha was the next to hug her and then Jason, who took her hand and stayed by her side. More people were in line to hug her, among them Kara, Perry and Jimmy. Lois still hadn't uttered word. She was trying to process the fact that she was not a clone and this was not a dream. Clark hadn't moved from his spot but looked at her as if afraid she would disappear if he took his eyes off her or if he touched her, he might find out she wasn't real.

Kara let out a shrill whistle that silenced everybody. "Why don't we give the real married couple a few minutes alone. They don't look like they've quite digested the news yet. Clark. Clark!"

Clark was snapped out of his daze. "Oh, right."

He took Lois by the hand and led her through the swarm of people that had surrounded her. He found an empty room and after he shut the door, he threw his arms around her and pulled her close against him.

His voice shook with emotion as he spoke, "I can't believe it's really you. You don't know how many times I dreamed and prayed for this day." He backed away a little so he could lean into kiss her.

She turned her head, so that he kissed her cheek instead of her lips. "I'm really sorry Clark. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this and you have to remember that I don't remember being Lois."

"I do understand," he said, bringing her back in a close hug. "I feel like an idiot. There were times I suspected it, times I hoped for it but I always ignored it. I should have known. I should have kept looking for you."

"How? I didn't even know. I still don't feel very confident that I'm Lois. What if Jimmy is wrong somehow?"

"He's not. I just hope you can forgive me for everything, especially almost marrying Lana."

"Almost being the key word and what is there to forgive?"

He stroked her hair. "You're the greatest. I love you."

"Yeah."

He got a hurt expression.

"You know I love you too. I confessed it before the ceremony, the one where you tried to become a bigamist."

He laughed and told her tenderly, "You haven't changed a bit." His eyes suddenly got dark and clouded. "What exactly did Lex do to you?"

"Well, he kidnapped me, tricked me into thinking I was a clone, and took 3 years of my life away but he's never actually hurt me as far as I know."

He positioned his hands gently on the upper part of her arms. "Are you sure?"

"Pos--ow."

"What he asked in a concerned tone.

"It's nothing."

"It's something," he said. He slipped off her jacket that went with the bridesmaid dress and saw the bruise on her arm. He studied it closely. "This is where Lex injected the drug into you."

She put her jacket back on. "It probably was. I'm sure Lex isn't the most gentle person in the world. It doesn't matter We'll go to the police and Lex will get arrested for his crime."

"Maybe. Maybe not. This time I'm going to make sure justice is served. He's not going to get away with all the pain he's caused. I'll be back shortly."

"Cl--" but he was gone before she made it to the a. She hated superspeed sometimes. She quickly left the room with the intent of stopping Clark before he did something he regretted. He was too close to the situation to think clearly.

As she dashed back to where the guests were, she heard loud sobbing. She peeked into the room where it was coming from. Lana was weeping over the last on phase of her and Clark's relationship but Lana should have realized it wasn't going to last without love. Lois felt a little sympathy for her though. She wasn't as evil as she was emotionally stunted and it was probably due to a troubled life. However, she wasn't the one to comfort her. She was the last person Lana wanted to see right now and vise versa. The little sympathy she had for Lana vanished when she remembered how she treated Jason. You reap what you sow. She quickly got back on task and ran to find the person who could help her.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

The room was loud as everyone was still discussing the eventful wedding. Lois gestured for Kara to come out into the hall. Chloe saw too and followed.

"We have a problem. Chloe , as long as you're out here why don't you go check on Lana," Chloe went to find her. "If you're a biological cousin, Kara--"

"Clark went to confront Lex, didn't her? I should have known. Do you want to come with me? Why am I even asking?"

Before Lois knew what was happening. They were in Lex's office and Kara had on her Supergirl outfit. Clark had picked up Lex by his collar and had him shoved against the wall.

"Clark, put him down," Lois said.

"Why?" Clark asked, as he squeezed tighter, turning Lex's face a bright red. "He doesn't deserve it. I'd be doing the world a favor if I killed him."

Kara snatched Lex away but she wasn't gentle about it. She treated him the same way she would a rag doll.

"It's not your job to decide who lives or dies," Lois said. "You're not his judge and you're certainly not his executioner."

"I'm sorry," he said going to her and hugging her. "I just couldn't think straight. I was too angry. When I think--"

"I know," she said softly.

This time she let him kiss her and as it increased in intensity, Kara cleared her throat. "Save it for when you're alone." She looked at Lex. "As for you, I think this occasion calls for a trip to the police station, don't you think so?" She looked back at Lois and Clark with a wink. "I wouldn't worry about them taking it easy on him. I can be mighty persuasive with the boys in blue." She started to leap out of the window with Lex but she turned back around. "You know nothing says we can't hit him. We'd be perfectly in our right. Of course, if I give him a good punch, my fist will go through his stomach," Lex's eyes widened but he was wise enough not to aggravate the situation by saying anything, "but I don't want to get my hands dirty. Why don't you give it a go, Lois? If anyone deserves to give him a good punch, you do."

If she'd had her memory back, she'd have probably been angrier and punched him harder but she gave him a nice punch in the gut anyway. Lex winced in pain and Kara flew him to the police station.

---

Lois had a suitcase and was packing up things ahs had gotten while staying with Martha. "You know my memory still hasn't returned. I'm a little nervous about living with Clark and Jason as a wife and mother."

"You just said it. You're Clark's wife and Jason's mother. They love you and you know you love them. That's all you have to remember. The memories will just be an added bonus."

"I guess you're right," she smiled as she snapped the suitcase shut. "I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here and believing in me when no one else did, including myself."

Martha hugged her. "We're family. You don't have to thank me. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Besides, I think Taco knew too."

"I feels so bad that he has to stay here now."

"Don't . You can't help it that you're allergic. Clark and Jason and you of course always come down on Sundays for church and Sunday dinner. Jason can see him then. It's a small sacrifice in exchange for his mother. Besides, I could use a little company inside the house. I haven't heard anything about Lana. I wonder how she's handling all this."

"Chloe's talked to her and said she's going to be fine. I think she said she already found another guy."

"Who?"

"He's an old friend or something that she interviewed on the news. I think he's running for office. A Pete somebody."

"Pete Ross?"

"Yeah, that's it. You know him?"

"Since he was a little boy. He was Clark's best friend. That's interesting."

"What is? You think they're a good match?"

"I think so. He's carefree and fun-loving but serious when he has to be. He could be gentle and firm with Lana. Something she needs. I forgot to ask. Did you call your dad and sister?"

"Yeah or Clark did. I didn't think they'd take me very seriously on the phone when I have no memories to back it up. They're both coming out as soon as they can. I'm a little anxious about meeting them though."

"Just remember deep down, you know these people. They love you and you love them. You'll be fine."

"Mom! Mom!" came Jason's cries before he ever reached the room.

"That's going to take some getting used to," Lois said. "I'm mom."

"And there's not a better name to have."

"Mom, are you ready to go?" Jason cried, flinging the door open to Clark's old bedroom. "Dad's waiting out in the car. We have a surprise for you when we get home. We're going to have a home movie marathon and have lots and lots of popcorn, candy, and pop!"

"It sounds wonderful and I'm ready to go," she said picking up her suitcase. Jason took her by the hand and began dragging her out of the room.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your grandma?"

"Oh yeah, Bye, grandma. See you Sunday."

Martha waved, chuckling.

Lois couldn't stop smiling and neither could Jason or Clark, as they headed down the road. 3 years were gone but there were so many more to come. This was her life and her family. She still couldn't get over it.

"Guess what, Mom? If you sing 100 bottles of beer really slow 3 times. We'll be back in Metropolis."

"Then what are we waiting for?" she replied. They all chimed in to test Jason's theory. "100 bottles of beer on the wall. Take one down and pass it around. 99 bottles of beer on the wall…"

The End


End file.
